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Arizona Senator Mark Kelly has fueled speculation that he is out of the running to become Kamala Harris’s vice presidential pick after he shared a cryptic post on X – before he swiftly deleted it and replaced it with an amended version.
After joining Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at Harris’s Washington DC residence on Sunday for final interviews, the former pilot and astronaut wrote on X: “My background is a bit different than most politicians.
“I spent my life serving in the Navy and at NASA, where the mission always comes first.
“Now my mission is serving Arizonans.”
The post prompted speculation that Kelly had learned he would not be heading for Washington DC as Harris’ running mate – and so will be staying put as senator of Arizona.
As rumors circulated online, Kelly then deleted the post and replaced it with a more ambiguously-worded message.
“Whether it was from my time in the Navy and at NASA, serving in the United States Senate, or visiting our troops overseas: I’ve learned that when your country asks you to serve, you always answer the call,” he wrote in the second version.
Shapiro, Walz and Kelly have been widely tipped as the most likely running mates for Harris, although Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have also been proposed as possible contenders.
On Sunday, Shapiro, Walz and Kelly visited Harris at her vice presidential residence for final interviews for the role, ahead of her expected announcement on Tuesday.
The meetings are understood to have been centered on assessing Harris’ chemistry with the finalists.
Shapiro is hugely popular in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state he could help to deliver to Democrats in November, but his strong support for Israel could create a political problem for Harris, given the strength of feeling about the war in Gaza and the number of Democrat voters who marked their primary ballots “uncommitted” in pivotal states like Michigan in protest at President Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis.
Kelly – the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot at a political meeting in Tucson in 2011 – has a compelling backstory, impeccable military credentials and a fierce commitment to ending gun violence but has been little tested outside of his purple state.
Walz, meanwhile, is likewise a white man who has succeeded in appealing to working-class voters across a large state and has distinguished himself of late by making the argument that Donald Trump’s MAGA movement is “weird”, a charge the Republican has so far struggled to shake off.
In the two weeks since Biden announced he would not be seeking a second term in the White House and endorsed Harris as his successor on the Democratic party’s ticket, she has shot up in the polls and raked in huge fundraising hauls.
By contrast, Trump has been left blindsided by her ascent and has faced backlash for questioning her racial heritage.
