Pawlenty on "Piers Morgan Tonight"

Piers Morgan: In a hypothetical scenario, governor, if someone like Donald Trump was to emerge as the Republican nominee and asked you to be vice president, would you accept that honor?

Tim Pawlenty: I'm running for president. I'm not putting my hat in the ring rhetorically or ultimately for vice president. So I'm focused on running for president. As to Donald Trump, I don't even know if he's going to run, but like I said, I hope he does in one sense. He's funny. I think he brings a lot to the debate, but I just hope that the country will take the full measure of all the candidates and make an informed decision. I believe they will.

Piers Morgan: Governor, unless I was mistaken, you just said you were running for president. Can we take that as a formal announcement?

Tim Pawlenty: Well, I've got an exploratory committee up and running and we'll have a final or full announcement on that in the coming weeks here. It won't be too much longer, but everything is headed in that direction, Piers.

Piers Morgan: Sounded pretty clear to me, governor. And I hope to speak to you again very soon about your plans to run for the White House.

Tim Pawlenty: Very good, and congratulations on the success of the show. I think you're doing a wonderful job, and I hope we have a chance to interact some more.