--- title: Trump's Vice President: Rubio, Kasich Are Possible Picks description: Donald Trump identified a few rivals in the Republican primary as potential running mates canonical: https://time.com/4290376/donald-trump-vice-president-marco-rubio-john-kasich/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-12T11:58:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:55:54.125Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Names Rubio and Kasich as Potential Running Mates og:description: "I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard” og:url: https://time.com/4290376/donald-trump-vice-president-marco-rubio-john-kasich/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd25671ae7122773d/69888eaf2dce01017a9e89c7/donald-trump-vp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4322 og:image:height: 2431 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Albany, NY. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Names Rubio and Kasich as Potential Running Mates twitter:description: "I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd25671ae7122773d/69888eaf2dce01017a9e89c7/donald-trump-vp.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Names Rubio and Kasich as Potential Running Mates > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=83ffeb15-03b8-4fd7-83b7-20b10eb5fb84&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why It's So Hard to Attack Trump [Watch (HLS stream): Why It's So Hard to Attack Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X3BpgQ9x.m3u8) (3:13)  _Published 2016-03-02. Now, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are attempting to beat him at his own game—but will any attacks against Trump actually stick?_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 12, 2016 11:58 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to a protestor as he speaks during a campaign event at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. on April 11. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump points to a protestor as he speaks during a campaign event at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. on April 11. Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 12, 2016 11:58 AM UTC Donald Trump identified a few of his Republican primary rivals as [potential running mates](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/04/11/trump-says-rubio-kasich-others-possible-cabinet-material/82916196/), naming Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker as possibilities. “Yes. I like Marco Rubio. Yeah. I could,” Trump said, referring to spots in his administration, in the [interview with USA TODAY](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/04/11/trump-says-rubio-kasich-others-possible-cabinet-material/82916196/) published Monday. “There are people I have in mind in terms of vice president. I just haven’t told anybody names. … I do like Marco. I do like Kasich. … I like Walker actually in a lot of ways. I hit him very hard. … But I’ve always liked him. There are people I like, but I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard.” Of those three, Kasich is the only one still running, but he has [no mathematical path](http://time.com/4277909/john-kasich-donald-trump-voters-new-york/) to the nomination before the convention. Trump has previously said he would like to select a Washington insider for vice president. “I do want somebody that’s political, because I want to get lots of great legislation we all want passed,” Trump said in February, [CNN reported](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/24/politics/donald-trump-political-insider-vice-president/). “We’re going to probably choose somebody that’s somewhat political.” Walker said he laughed when he read Trump’s comments but would not rule out being Trump’s vice presidential pick when asked about it on Monday, the [Wisconsin _State-Journal_ reported](http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/scott-walker-calls-donald-trump-vp-talk-breathtaking/article%5F596f2263-e116-5292-816f-3bad32e0e327.html). “It’s kind of interesting to hear that after the things that were said about me a couple weeks ago,” Walker said. “It’s almost breathtaking that I was listed in the first place.” During the interview, Trump said previous spats with other Republican candidates were part of the “the crazy business” of politics and said GOP leaders who have been criticizing him publicly have also been reaching out to be part of his team. “I actually asked a couple of them, ‘How can you do this after what you said?’ And they said, ‘No problem,’” Trump said. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Everybody knows what they're getting in Donald Trump. You've seen him on TV and interviews, so it's hard to attack him like you would a conventional politician because everybody has heard of him already. And it's pretty hard to reset that with a single jibe. [ MUSIC ] Over the next couple of weeks we're going to see all of these candidates and outsiders launching massive last ditch effort to stop Donald Trump, before the March 15th winner take all primary's. It' really too soon to tell if this will work, but ultimately It's now or never. When Donald Trump first started running a lot of the other candidates didn't really take him seriously, and so they didn't bother attacking him. They were much more concerned with fighting each other for the particular spot, whether it be the establishment or the conservative spot. There it is, the memorized twenty five second speech. Donald Trump is the master of insults and it's hard to beat him at his own game. When Mexico sends it's people. They're bringing drugs. Their rapists and some I assume are good people. And he has a particular gift at figuring out what is the thing that is going to most bother you. Low energy individual. So if you are going up against Trump they have to figure out. How to insult him in an equally devastating way and I don't know that the attacks that we've heard so far are actually going to work. Let me ask for a full length mirror. Maybe to make sure his pants weren't wet. I don't know. Then He's not a politician so there's not a record of votes that he took or bills that he sponsored or actions that he took. So a lot of that just becomes like well, yeah, I said that one time and now I'm saying this. And so people don't mind. Would never do that. [ LAUGH ] Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have spoken up a lot more directly going after him. He's not faced some of these attacks. So some of them we just don't know whether they will work or not. Or it's possible that they may work but they could turn out to be more useful to Democrats down the road. I think you already see Clinton's campaign portraying Trump as the divider and Hillary is the Uniter . >> America never stopped being great we have to make America whole. I was told by the campaign that they felt that the republican field had tried to define Trump a little too late and if they would not make the same mistake I don't think you're going to see Hillary herself attacking Trump. I think you're gonna see Bill Clinton and her surrogate certainly, attacking Trump. She wants to remain a very positive messenger. Almost in a Ronald Reagan kind of sense, the optimism of morning in America. Today is more love and kindness. Whereas, they would portray Donald Trump as night in America. The thing though is that Trump is wining the Republican primaries based largely off of white support and when it comes to general election, given all the constituencies that he's offended, will he still have the same power. Will he still be able to win, and will any of these attacks start to stick? And I think the Clinton campaign is betting on that they will. 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