UPDATE: The campaign has confirmed that Ted Cruz will name Carly Fiorina as his choice for Vice President, should he win the Republican nomination at his 4pm press conference. Sources say Cruz hopes to re-energize his campaign ahead of Indiana and, particularly, California, Fiorina’s home state. A win in California is necessary to keeping Donald Trump from clinching the nomination.
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Ted Cruz is set to make a “big announcement” at 4pm EST Wednesday, and early indications are that it will be to introduce Carly Fiorina as his presumptive running mate.
Sources confirm to myself & @jdistaso that @tedcruz intends to name @CarlyFiorina as VP pick if #GOP picks him. #nhpolitics #fitn
— Josh McElveen (WMUR) (@JoshWMUR) April 27, 2016
This is good news for fans of Fiorina, who dropped out of the race after lagging behind the pack in early states, but bad news for Donald Trump who will again have to face down “that face.”
In one of his first memorable moments of the campaign, Donald Trump insulted Fiorina (who had the nerve to interrupt one of his classic, rambling debate answers) in a Rolling Stone interview, asking the reporter whether he’d be willing to stare at “that face” every day for four years.
When the anchor throws to Carly Fiorina for her reaction to Trump’s momentum, Trump’s expression sours in schoolboy disgust as the camera bores in on Fiorina. “Look at that face!” he cries. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!” The laughter grows halting and faint behind him. “I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”
Charming, for sure.
Fiorina handled it with remarkable composure (though, in fairness, that could have been the Botox – both the male and female candidates this year seem heavily invested in the product), and responded by burning Trump again on Facebook, which set off a now-classic Trump Twitter meltdown.
Now, it’s possible that the only candidate who ever truly got under Trump’s thin skin might be back in the game. Ted Cruz is reportedly set to announce that he’s selected Carly Fiorina for his Vice President slot — a great choice to go up against the presumptive female Democratic nominee — and Donald Trump couldn’t be unhappier about it. “I mean, Carly is not going to do the trick,” Trump told Good Morning America. “I like Carly. Nice person but she never resonated. She didn’t do well. She went — she was very low in the polls and by the end she was an insignificant player.”
So “insignificant,” he’s back to trashing her before she even returns to the stage? Either Trump has a schoolboy crush on Carly or he’s getting pretty antsy about facing down a formidable female foe a second time.
Trump, who has been criticized for his rampant sexism time and again on the trail, has seen little challenge on the subject. A second round with Fiorina can’t be something he’s looking forward to, especially ahead of the California primary and with a razor-thin delegate margin on the line.
Plus, she’s gonna kill him at karaoke.
Maybe?
Video: Carly Fiorina starts singing on stage https://t.co/p7StJlJsct https://t.co/dbCeaUsSje
— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) April 27, 2016
Yes, that’s Carly Fiorina singing a made-up song about Ted Cruz’s daughters.
Social media had mixed reactions to the nomination. Michael Dukakis, former Democratic Presidential candidate, was unimpressed.
Michael Dukakis talking VP with @RitaCosby: "Does anyone think Carly Fiorina would be a good president, five people maybe do."
— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) April 27, 2016
As was Planned Parenthood, oh-so-subtly:
Meet the most loathsome pair of anti-abortion extremists in America. https://t.co/nAGLu3BVfF #NotMyCandidate pic.twitter.com/nZ0NCbIE0B
— Planned Parenthood (@PPact) April 27, 2016
Anthony Weiner, who is very familiar with defeat, was willing to stake quite the bet on the Cruz/Fiorina ticket’s success.
https://twitter.com/anthonyweiner/status/725404920891977728
And some people were initially confused, and pleasantly surprised, by her impromptu vocal performance during her acceptance speech:
Was I expecting Carly Fiorina to sing? I was not.
— Rebecca Sinderbrand (@sinderbrand) April 27, 2016
But most people were pleased to see Carly’s face again on the trail and hopeful for what she could contribute to the final weeks of the race.
Carly Fiorina could make a big deal about possibly being the first female VP but she knows being female isn't the core of her identity
— good golly, garner (@itsme_GarnerP) April 27, 2016
Carly Fiorina is so much better at this than Ted Cruz.
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) April 27, 2016
Ted Cruz just threw a Hail Mary named 'Carly Fiorina' https://t.co/rTyIMlF0Wo pic.twitter.com/owon2wY1A4
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) April 27, 2016
On the plus side, Carly Fiorina is a CEO who hasn’t donated to Hillary or declared bankruptcy 4 times.
— Eating Machine (@ThatElJefe) April 27, 2016
The question of whether she will be enough to convince voters to cast a ballot for Ted Cruz was hard to answer.
I actually really like Carly Fiorina. Just not nearly enough to vote for Cruz if she's his VP.
— buttery spooky crust (@AgentGriswald) April 27, 2016
Cruz is picking running mate to beat Trump, but Carly Fiorina doesn't bring delegates. Kasich or Rubio would add. https://t.co/nBPEdmyemy
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) April 27, 2016
But mostly, after day’s hype over the announcement, everyone was focused on the signing, which might have turned “aye, Carly!” into “whyyyyyy, Carly?”
OH GOD. Carly is singing. I repeat, CARLY IS SINGING.
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) April 27, 2016
Oh my God, she's singing.
Best election ever.
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) April 27, 2016
Whoever vetted the singing portion of Carly's (hypothetical) VP nom acceptance speech should probably be fired like right now
— Allegra Kirkland (@allegrakirkland) April 27, 2016
"I fear that the singing will overshadow some of the message." — @jaketapper just now on Carly announcement
— Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) April 27, 2016
Carly Fiorina singing to Ted Cruz’s kids is the creepiest thing to happen so far this election. And this election also features Ted Cruz
— Freddie Campion (@FreddieCampion) April 27, 2016
Carly Fiorina just started singing and I'm pretty sure this is the worst performance of Wicked ever.
— Catherine Q. (@CatherineQ) April 27, 2016
Me: Ugh, Carly Fiorina as Cruz's running mate? This can't get any worse.
*Carly starts singing*
Me: Damnit.— (((Aliza))) (@AlizaTweets) April 27, 2016
Where's Simon Cowell when we need him for singing Carly Fiorina?
— Chris Reed (@CDReed) April 27, 2016
That might not be a good sign, unless you were really looking forward to the 2016 elections being made into a musical.
