--- title: Donald Trump Running Mate: Two Drop Out in Veepstakes description: Two Republican Senators seen as contenders for Donald Trump's vice presidential pick withdrew themselves from consideration Wednesday. canonical: https://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-06T18:19:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:05:10.929Z article:section: Politics og:title: Two Potential Trump Running Mates Drop Out og:description: Both are Republican senators. og:url: https://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb6d4730b8195f7f/69889ad4656a3f91f0bcc2c0/donald-trump-bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands next to Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) during a campaign event at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on July 5, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Two Potential Trump Running Mates Drop Out twitter:description: Both are Republican senators. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb6d4730b8195f7f/69889ad4656a3f91f0bcc2c0/donald-trump-bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Two Potential Donald Trump Running Mates Drop Out by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 6, 2016 6:19 PM UTC  Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands next to Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) during a campaign event at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on July 5, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands next to Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) during a campaign event at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts on July 5, 2016 in Raleigh, North Carolina.Sara D. Davis—Getty Images by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 6, 2016 6:19 PM UTC Two Republican Senators seen as contenders for Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick withdrew themselves from consideration Wednesday. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said separately on Wednesday that they are want to remain focused on their work in the Senate. Corker told the [Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/06/corker-withdraws-as-potential-trump-running-mate/?postshare=6391467824023204&tid=ss%5Ftw) he told Trump he did not want to be vice president during the GOP nominee’s Tuesday campaign stop in North Carolina, adding, “I’m far more suited for other types of things.” Ernst said she told Trump she is “focused on Iowa” in an interview with [Politico.](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/joni-ernst-trump-vice-president-225169) Ernst announcement comes [after it was revealed](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/07/us/politics/joni-ernst-republican-convention-trump.html) she will have a key speaking slot at the Republican convention in Cleveland later this month. She [drew national attention](http://time.com/3132793/why-joni-ernst-isnt-iowas-sarah-palin/) to her 2014 Senate campaign with bold advertising and her upstart campaign that beat an establishment Republican and coordinated Democratic effort. Corker chairs the Senate Foreign Relations committee and has criticized the Obama administration [for its handling](http://time.com/4235984/bob-corker-syria-bashar-assad/) of ISIS and the Syrian civil war. The Tennessean emerged [as a key power broker](http://time.com/3814984/the-tireless-tennessee-dealmaker/) in last year’s Iran nuclear deal. Trump is said to be vetting several vice presidential contenders, [including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich](http://time.com/4328193/donald-trump-newt-gingrich-vice-president/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/"},"headline":"Two Potential Donald Trump Running Mates Drop Out","datePublished":"2016-07-06T18:19:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:05:10.929Z","description":"Two Republican Senators seen as contenders for Donald Trump's vice presidential pick withdrew themselves from consideration Wednesday.","url":"https://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic","Election","vice president","Bob Corker","veepstakes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb6d4730b8195f7f/69889ad4656a3f91f0bcc2c0/donald-trump-bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb6d4730b8195f7f/69889ad4656a3f91f0bcc2c0/donald-trump-bob-corker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands next to Sen. 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