WASHINGTON — President Trump has announced his unlikely pick for Joe Biden’s veep: Elizabeth Warren.
In an interview with The Post in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said he believed the presumptive Democratic nominee “owes” the Massachusetts senator the top spot on his ticket because he never would have gotten this far without her help.
“I think Elizabeth Warren is responsible for Joe Biden’s win because she didn’t drop out and [Vermont Sen.] Bernie [Sanders] would have won every single state on Super Tuesday,” Trump said, claiming Warren split the progressive vote.
“I think he should pick Elizabeth Warren because Elizabeth Warren, more than any other person, including [South Carolina Rep.] Jim Clyburn and including anybody you can name, is responsible for the win of Joe Biden,” he continued, referring to Clyburn’s campaign-reviving February endorsement of Biden.
Trump also questioned whether the former vice president, 77, would actually wind up his party’s nominee.
“If he’s gonna win — and I don’t know that he makes it to the starting gate — but if he does make it to the starting gate, [Warren is] responsible,” he said.
“She was responsible for his win, so therefore I think he owes an obligation to pick Pocahontas,” he said, using his favorite taunt for Warren due to her past tenuous claims of Native American ancestry.
A number of female Democratic lawmakers are furiously lobbying to become Biden’s running mate after he pledged to select a woman for vice president.
No one is campaigning more blatantly than Stacey Abrams, but Trump dismissed her efforts, saying he was largely responsible for her defeat in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election.
“If you look at Stacey Abrams, I was the one that went to Georgia and fought Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama,” he said, referring to Abrams’ star endorsements.
“[Gov. Brian] Kemp wasn’t given a chance. Kemp wasn’t given a chance to win and he won,” the president continued.
“They were there all the time campaigning for Stacey Abrams, their new great star. That didn’t work out too well,” he said.
Biden insiders also have dismissed Abrams’ campaigning for the coveted role, with one telling The Post: “No one takes Stacey seriously.”
“And her public campaigning for the job seems more like a hostage negotiation than an actual attempt to get the job,” the insider said.