Former President Donald Trump dismissed any of the Republican candidates on the debate stage in California as being an option for vice president.
During his speech in Michigan speaking to auto workers amid an ongoing strike, Trump compared the candidates on stage to being “job candidates” who would be willing to “do anything.”
“Does anybody see the VP in the group? I don’t think so,” Trump told the crowd.
Trump added that each of the candidates, including himself, were “competing with the job candidates.”
“They’re all running for a job,” he added. “No, they’re all job candidates. They want to be in the – they want to, they’ll do anything, secretary of something, they even say VP.”
Seven presidential candidates were on the debate stage Wednesday at the Reagan Presidential Library in California including; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R).
Wednesday’s debate marked the second time Trump has opted not to join his fellow candidates on the debate stage. Recent polls show Trump as the frontrunner among the candidates.
A poll from McLaughlin & Associates conducted between Sept. 22-26 showed 54% of voters said they would support Trump, 12% for DeSantis, 10% for Ramaswamy, 6% for Haley, and 5% for Pence.
Another poll from Morning Consult conducted between Sept. 22-24 showed 58% of voters would support Trump, 15% would support DeSantis, 9% for Ramaswamy, 7% for Haley, and 6% for Pence.
Additionally, a poll from ABC News/The Washington Post conducted between Sept. 15-20 showed 55% of voters support Trump, 16% for DeSantis, 7% for Haley, 5% for Pence, and 4% for Scott.