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Gov. Mike Braun said Thursday he has no idea who came up with the swirling rumor that he is interested in a presidential run.
“That’s had nothing to do with anything I’ve said,” Braun told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “I’m concentrating on being governor, and have no interest in that.”
Politico’s Adam Wren first reported that the Indiana GOP governor was privately discussing the idea of mounting a presidential run in 2028, citing three unnamed sources.
“Don’t know who came up with that,” Braun said.
Prior to his inauguration in January, Braun was one of Indiana’s two senators in Washington, D.C. But the one-term congressman seemed to have little interest in returning to the nation’s capital.
The Capital Chronicle asked Braun about the idea after he spoke to Future Farmers of America students at a state convention in West Lafayette.
“I get asked that often by people that are good supporters, especially from the time I spent out in the Senate. But when I came back here and gave up another term there, this was about a job that looks like you’re going to get a lot more done with the time that you’re spending at it.”
The 71-year-old is Indiana’s oldest governor and a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, who is term limited. He spent much of his time in the U.S. Senate criticizing the nation’s deficit. The wealthy businessman has spent his first months in office as governor trimming the state budget, trying to reform property taxes and focusing on health care regulations and laws.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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Is this The Onion?
Darn. A lost opportunity dump him as a loser governor.
Indeed. Like Pence before him, he would be a great candidate for VP (when Trump runs for the fourth time).
Kudos to Indiana Capital Chronicle’s Niki Kelly for asking Gov. Braun the question rather than running with the false rumor with hateful commentary like Indy Star’s James Briggs did (and to IBJ for publishing the facts.
Yes, but if Briggs doesn’t write about the rumor then Niki probably doesn’t ask the question.
Niki is an All-Star reporter. Plus she adds plenty to IWIR
Nancy, I agree about Niki. My comment was not meant to question her abilities. I’m simply saying that she might not ask w/o the rumors, which Briggs wrote about. As a columnist, he probably has more leeway to do that.
Left unsaid is that his disintrest in runnign for president is shared by the voters
So his adoption of all the absurd maga rhetoric, positions, and actions is just him, being him? If true, he’s actually a worse leader than he is already pegged as. Of course, ‘no interest in presidential run’ is not the same thing as ‘no, I won’t run for president.’ His response just means he doesn’t fancy the idea of actually campaigning for it. Ask the real question, “Do you want to be the President of the United States?”, and watch him drool like a basset hound eyeing a steak. Pence sold his soul just for a glimpse of the Presidency, and Braun may actually want it more than he did.
In other news. I have no interest in playing power forward for the Pacers.