Trump Dodges When Asked If He Wants His Daughter-In-Law Made a Senator: ‘People Oftentimes Talk About Nepotism’
President-elect Donald Trump took questions from reporters on Monday and was asked about reports that he would like to see Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appoint his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as the next senator from Florida – filling Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) seat.
“Do you want Ron DeSantis to appoint Lara Trump to Senator Marco Rubio’s seat?” Trump was asked during the presser.
“No, I don’t. I probably don’t, but I don’t know,” Trump replied, adding:
Ron’s doing a good job. It’s his choice that has nothing to do with me. Lara is unbelievable. I mean, she was incredible, the job she did at the RNC, as chairman, along with Michael Whatley, the combination. But I could just speak for Laura. She is so highly respected by women. I mean, even her workout routines are through the roof. She lifts 150 pounds. I don’t know how she does it.
She’s a bad example for men in women’s sports, which is, I wouldn’t be able to beat her. I don’t believe I’d try like hell. But no, she’s an incredible woman. And, you know, it’s funny. People oftentimes talk about nepotism. I never had, when I put her there, people said, how did you get her to do it? You know, she could have run for the Senate in North Carolina. Ted Budd would be the first to say, and he wouldn’t have run. Nobody would have run. And she just said, no, I want to really focus on my children.
Trump has long hired his children to top positions in his company and put his son-in-law Jared Kushner in charge of a wide-ranging portfolio during his first administration.
The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Trump has actively campaigned DeSantis to nominate his daughter-in-law. “President-elect Donald Trump has communicated to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that he wants his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to become the Sunshine State’s next senator — but it’s far from clear that DeSantis will acquiesce and appoint her, people familiar with the matter said,” reported the Post’s Hannah Knowles and Michael Scherer.
The Post also noted that DeSantis is “seriously considering Lara Trump and cares about the president-elect’s view, according to one person familiar with his thinking who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. But the person believes DeSantis is more likely to pick someone who has held public office in Florida and said other contenders include the state’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, and former statehouse speaker Jose Oliva.”
Watch the clip above.
