WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton says he won't run as a vice presidential candidate of an outsider campaign against Donald Trump if the New York billionaire wins the Republican presidential nomination. But the Dardanelle Republican is sidestepping questions about his willingness to serve as Trump's running mate.
William Kristol of The Weekly Standard, had mentioned Cotton as a running mate on a conservative third-party or independent ticket. Asked earlier this month if there were any circumstances under which he would accept such an offer, Cotton said: "No. None."
In a subsequent interview Thursday, Cotton dismissed talk of a potential Trump-Cotton ticket.
"We haven't even picked our nominees this year. I think it's a little premature to talk about who's going to be the vice presidential nominee," he said.
Asked whether he'd accept if Trump offered him the job, Cotton said, "It's a long time from now. I'm not going to speculate."
By email, Kristol said he couldn't say whether a Trump-Cotton ticket would be a wise move for Trump or Cotton.
"Trump is such an unusual phenomenon that it's hard to know what's in anyone's interest now," Kristol wrote. "It seems to me Cotton and others like him will probably focus on helping their colleagues up for re-election and fighting for legislation in Congress on issues that concern them."