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Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is giving consideration to retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as a potential vice presidential running mate, a Republican source familiar with the process said on Saturday. For weeks Trump has conducted a high-profile canvassing of Republican political stalwarts as part of his running mate search, but he has also made clear he is looking at what a military leader would bring to the ticket.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Flynn has emerged as a possibility, confirming reports in the New York Post and The Washington Post. The Trump campaign had no comment.
The thinking is that Flynn, who has been a foreign policy advisor to Trump, would be able to help Trump in the area of national security at a time of challenges abroad like the threat from Islamic State militants.
Trump is also considering a more conventional political choice for his running mate, such as former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, Indiana Governor Mike Pence or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Flynn was chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama from 2012-2014.
He has spoken in the past about wanting the United States to work more closely with Russia to resolve global security issues.
Flynn told Russia Today in an interview published on December 10 that the United States and Russia should work together to resolve the Syrian civil war and defeat Islamic State.
Flynn has a book coming out next week, co-written with Michael Ledeen, titled: “The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War Against Radical Islam and Its Allies.”
Meanwhile, in another nod to primary rival Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton is proposing to increase federal money for community health centres and outlining steps to expand access to health care across the nation.
Clinton’s campaign says the proposal is part of her plan to provide universal health care coverage in the United States. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also is reaffirming her support for a public-option insurance plan and for expanding Medicare by letting people age 55 year and older opt in.
The announcement on Saturday was a clear gesture toward Sanders, who ran a strong primary campaign against Clinton and has held back from endorsing her candidacy as the party’s convention nears.
In a statement, Clinton said: “We have more work to do to finish our long fight to provide universal, quality, affordable health care to everyone in America.”
Clinton’s campaign noted that Sanders had promoted doubling money for primary care services at federally qualified health centres. Money for these centres was increased under the Affordable Care Act, an effort led by the Vermont senator.
According to the Clinton campaign, her proposal would make money for these centres permanent and expand it by $40bn over the next 10 years. Her campaign said the money would be mandatory and not subject to annual appropriation. The proposal would more than double the money for the centres, which currently get $3.6bn annually.
Sanders, in a conference call after the Clinton campaign’s announcement, said her proposal “will save lives” and “ease suffering” and represented “an important step forward in expanding health care in America and expanding health insurance and health care access to tens of millions of Americans.”
The health care proposal follows on Clinton’s recent announcement of new ways to tackle college affordability, including a plan that ensures families with annual incomes up to $125,000 pay no tuition at in-state public colleges and universities.
That initiative was seen as a response to Sanders’ call for free tuition at all public colleges and universities, an idea popular with the young voters who flocked to his rallies.
Clinton’s policy overtures come as Sanders appears to be close to supporting her candidacy.
Two Democrats with knowledge of Sanders’ plans told The Associated Press that Sanders was closing in on offering his public endorsement of Clinton. The Democrats spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations they were not authorised to disclose.
Clinton’s campaign has announced a stop in New Hampshire tomorrow, but did not say whether Sanders also would attend.
Sanders said the two campaigns “are coming closer and closer together in trying to address the major issues facing this country.” He added: “We’ll have more to say, I think, in the very near future.” – AFP
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