Sarah Palin says she wouldn’t want to be a “burden” on the Republican ticket by becoming Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate.
The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee acknowledged to CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” that she’s a controversial figure, nudging Trump to look elsewhere and saying that there are “so many other great people out there.”
“I want to help and not hurt, and I am such a realist that I realize there are a whole lot of people out there who would say, ‘Anybody but Palin.’ I wouldn’t want to be a burden on the ticket, and I realize in many, many eyes, I would be that burden,” Palin said.
“So, you know, I just — I just want the guy to win. I want America to win,” she said. “And I don’t know if I would be the person that would be able to help him win, Jake.”
Still, Palin said if Trump did want to choose her, her time in the political limelight has left her well-vetted for the job.
“I think I’m pretty much as vetted as anybody in the country,” she said. “So, I think there are so many other great people out there in America who can serve in this position. I think if someone wanted to choose me, they already know who I am, what I stand for. They wouldn’t be in for any surprises.”
Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer also told Tapper later on the show that she also would be willing to serve as Trump’s vice president.
“I would be willing to serve in any capacity that I could be of help with Donald on,” she said.
Palin also dismissed the political potency of Bill Clinton’s infidelity — a point Trump has raised on the campaign trail in recent days as he has cast his likely general election foe, Hillary Clinton, as an “enabler.”
“I think a lot of people may be obsessed with public figures’ personal life and they’re going get all entangled in past indiscretions, or whatever,” Palin said, adding that more Americans are concerned with issues like who appoints the next Supreme Court justice.
“I think that’s what people are concerned about, much more so than Bill Clinton’s obvious indiscretions, and Donald Trump having been divorced a couple times, but owning up to it. Things like that, I just think for people like me, eh, I just think that’s like the least of our worries right now,” she said.