WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign (all times local):
6:30 a.m.
Virtually assured of the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump says he likely will “go the political route” in choosing a vice presidential running mate.
The real estate mogul says in a broadcast interview Wednesday that he’s “inclined” to prefer a No. 2 person on the ticket “who can help me get legislation passed.” He notes he already has business experience and tells MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” he wouldn’t want to have to resort to presidential executive orders to get things done.
Trump also reveals he’ll be making a decision over the next week on how to fund a general election campaign.
He says “I do love self-funding,” but adds that he’s thinking over his strategy and will have an answer soon.
“Do I want to sell a couple of buildings? I don’t really want to do that,” he said. But he said that he wouldn’t necessarily want a new source of money “for myself” but that the party needs to bolster its funding. He was asked if he would accept money from super PACs in the fall, although he has refused to do so thus far.
5:50 a.m.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has taken to Twitter to attack what she calls presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “toxic stew of hatred & insecurity.”
The Massachusetts Democrat issued a series of tweets Tuesday night as results from the Indiana GOP primary forced Texas Senator Ted Cruz from the race and left Trump as the overwhelming favorite for the nomination.
Warren tweets that Trump has built his campaign on “racism, sexism and xenophobia” and that there’s more enthusiasm for him “among the leaders of the KKK than leaders of the political party he now controls.”
Warren says what happens next is “a character test for all of us — Republican, Democrat, and Independent.”
Warren has been mentioned by party insiders as a potential running mate for likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
5:30 a.m. Gov. John Kasich is not abandoning his quest for the White House in the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in Indiana.
His campaign issued a statement on Facebook early Wednesday saying that the election results “are not going to alter Gov. Kasich’s campaign plans.”
The statement adds: “Our strategy has been and continues to be one that involves winning the nomination at an open convention. The comments from Trump, on the verge of winning in Indiana, heighten the differences between Governor Kasich and his positive, inclusive approach and the disrespectful ramblings from Donald Trump.”
Kasich has won just one primary — his home state of Ohio — and trails Trump by nearly 900 delegates.
Kasich pledged to stay in the race, with his campaign manager saying the governor would continue to “offer the voters a clear choice for our country.”
