UPDATED July 20, 8:10 p.m. ET: Donald Trump Jr. has released a statement to CNN denying reports that he offered Ohio Gov. John Kasich to be in charge of foreign and domestic policy saying, "You know the way I conduct myself. Do you really believe I would say 'John Kasich is in charge of foreign and domestic policy and Donald J. Trump will focus on making America great again?' What am I a meathead?"
See original story below.
If a new report from the New York Times turns out to be true, it sounds like Donald Trump would run the executive branch the same way he runs his real estate business: lease the Trump name to someone else willing to do all the legwork.
According to the Times story, which was published on Wednesday morning, Trump was interested in asking Ohio Governor John Kasich—who campaigned against Trump in a coordinated effort with Ted Cruz in the last leg of the primary season—to be his running mate. But before he did, Trump had his son, Donald Trump Jr., contact one of Kasich's top advisors (who requested anonymity for the Times story) to gauge Kasich's interest in the job. The Times is reporting that Trump's idea was to give Kasich a lot of power as his VP.
"Donald Jr. wanted to make [Kasich] an offer nonetheless... Did [Kasich] have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?" the Times reported.
The story continued:
Kasich (plot twist!) said no. He, along with Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, will also not attend the Republican National Convention. Instead, that means Mike Pence—a crusader against abortions in cases of rape or incest, a staunch opponent of LGBT rights, an advocate of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and an opponent of raising the minimum wage—would potentially be in charge of all domestic and foreign policy if Trump is elected President in November.
Move over, Dick Cheney: There's a new sheriff in town, and he could potentially be more powerful than any VP to come before him.
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