Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchBottom line Bottom line Senate GOP divided over whether they'd fill Supreme Court vacancy MORE (R-Utah) said there's "potential" for House Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE (R-Wis.) to be drafted as a presidential nominee at a Republican convention because he is the one person who could unify the party.

"I think it's just natural that that speculation would happen because he's one of the great leaders here on Capitol Hill and one of the people who brings both sides, all sides together, I should say," Hatch told reporters Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hatch said there's currently no serious effort to draft the former VP candidate, who has repeatedly said that he isn't interested in running. But Hatch's remarks reflected the high standing Ryan has with many GOP office-holders, who see him as a potential white knight who could salvage the messy GOP White House race.

"He's one of my close friends and I have absolute confidence in him as a human being and as a leader. He's a very, very fine human being," Hatch said.

A new poll released Thursday shows that Ryan would lose to Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhat Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Bipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death Trump carries on with rally, unaware of Ginsburg's death MORE by 6 percentage points and would fall 7 points short of Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? McConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security MORE in the general election.

Hatch had endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioFlorida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE's presidential run.