(Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has promised a “major announcement” today at 4 pm in Indiana. Internet rumors suggest that Cruz will announce Carly Fiorina as his vice president pick.
And now ABC WMUR9 is reporting that sources close to them have confirmed that Cruz is to announce Fiorina as his running mate.
Earlier, Matt Viser, a journalist with The Boston Globe, also reported that Fiorina flew to Indiana yesterday.
Cruz announced in April that he was shortening his list of potential picks for Vice President should he win the nomination. Notably, that list included former GOP rival and Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Early speculation on the announcement leans toward him announcing a running mate.
It’s unusual for a losing candidate to announce a running mate, but if it’s Fiorina, it wouldn’t be the first time that Cruz and Fiorina have bucked tradition in the 2016 GOP campaign. In late 2015, a Cruz-backing Super PAC, Keep the Promise I, donated $500,000 to the Fiorina campaign, a move election insiders and journalists couldn’t find a precedent for. While the donation has been the subject of ugly and unfounded rumors, Fiorina and Cruz have had a close professional relationship since Fiorina ended her campaign, which a VP pick would certainly cement.
Cruz, who mathematically cannot win the pre-convention race, may also be playing the convention game with a Fiorina pick. Fiorina is well-liked by centrist Republicans, a constituency that has looked to Cruz only out of necessity in the wake of Trump’s rise.
Trump has repeatedly been bashing Hillary Clinton, claiming that she’s playing the “woman’s card” and stating that if she were a man, she’d have less votes.
If Fiorina is indeed the reason for Cruz’s announcement, it would have interesting implications for Trump’s latest comments.
For more analysis on Cruz’s 4 pm announcement, click here.
