CLEVELAND – The office of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez on Wednesday night pushed back against reports that her office would not return phone calls from a Donald Trump aide interested in vetting her as a vice presidential running mate.
But a spokesman also said she didn’t want the job.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski placed several calls to Martinez before Trump’s rally in Albuquerque in May, but they were not returned.
Trump criticized Martinez’s job performance during the rally, which she did not attend, without mentioning the issue of unreturned calls or that the New Mexico governor had harshly criticized his own remarks about Mexican immigrants last year.
“Gov. Martinez had no interest in being considered for vice president, but the claim that Mr. Lewandowski – or anyone else from the Trump campaign – called her before the Albuquerque rally is completely false,” Martinez spokesman Chris Sanchez said.
According to The New York Times, five women – in addition to numerous male politicians – were on the list of Trump’s potential VP picks.
“Before the list was drawn up, Trump also expressed interest in Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, but after Martinez did not return repeated phone calls from Lewandowski, Trump said that he was done with her – and then bashed the governor on a campaign stop in Albuquerque in late May,” The New York Times reported.
Martinez told the Journal in Cleveland on Tuesday that she is still not willing to officially endorse Trump’s presidential campaign until she hears more about his plans for New Mexico’s nuclear laboratories and nuclear installations, and he softens his rhetoric about Mexican immigrants.
The members of New Mexico’s delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland spent Wednesday afternoon at the Cleveland Zoo, where they had lunch.
Today, the final day of the convention, they will head off to Canton, Ohio, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where they are again expected to be honored guests at a luncheon. The delegation will be back in Cleveland for Donald Trump’s presidential nomination speech tonight.
