Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) spoke Sunday about the prospect of serving as former President Donald Trump’s vice president, saying he could “step in” as commander-in-chief if needed.
“Look, I think that I would have an ability to step in,” Donalds said on Meet the Press. “I’m actually pretty intelligent. I can sit through issues really, really well. It’s about judgment. It’s about logic streams. It’s about how you make decisions at the end of the day.”
Donalds has been floated among eight people on Trump’s short list for vice president. Others include Donalds’s congressional colleagues Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Tom Cotton (R-AR).
Donalds’s remarks came one day after Trump said while courting black voters in Detroit that Donalds was “very high” on his list, according to NBC News.
Trump was speaking at a community roundtable event at 180 Church, where he was joined by Donalds, as well as former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, another name on Trump’s shortlist.
Donalds “happens to be on the list of potential vice presidents,” Trump told the crowd, adding, “Would anybody like to see him? I noticed your name is very high on the list.”
Trump also met with Republican lawmakers in Washington, D.C., last week, and he said after the meeting that his vice presidential pick was “probably” in the room. He noted he would likely announce his choice at the Republican National Convention in July.
Donalds, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, is in his second term in Congress and has a background in banking. During his television interview Sunday, the rising GOP star acknowledged he would be surrounded by experts who would help him if he were chosen as vice president.
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“You cannot discount the fact that you would have a lot of people who are very qualified to be around to help you do that job and do what’s in the best interest of the American people,” Donalds said.
He added that while he “100%” believed he could serve in the position, he would support whomever Trump chose.