Cliff Schecter drew my attention back to Politico’s non-Omicron coverage of the D.C. soap opera. Donald Trump’s non-official campaign is already sparking speculation about who he might pick for a vice presidential candidate:
But as Trump gears up for a 2024 bid to recapture the White House, the nascent thinking at Mar-a-Lago surrounding his potential vice president is considerably different. According to conversations with a dozen Trump advisers and close associates, the former president doesn’t feel bound by geographic or ideological considerations — or any standard political rules at all.
Those familiar with his thinking say his selection will be determined by two factors that rate highest in Trump’s estimation: unquestioned loyalty and an embrace of the former president’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“A lot of times, a presidential candidate will pick a running mate to balance out wings of the party. But with Trump, that’s not the issue. He is the party, basically. It’s so united behind him,” said John McLaughlin, one of Trump’s campaign pollsters. “So his choice, if he runs, will come down to what he wants. It would be a much more personal decision this time.”
[…]
“They’re all begging me. They all come here,” Trump boasted to one adviser, who shared the account anonymously with POLITICO.
Is anyone buying that? Did anyone buy overpriced Trump vodka described as “exceptionally harsh” and “tastes awful—needs a lot of tonic and lime”?
What Republican potentials Tim Scott, Marco Rubio, Mike Pompeo and others are doing, Roger Stone tells Politico, is auditioning.
“There’s no question that people running for president are really running for vice president all the time,” Stone said. “The key is to make it look like you’re not running for vice president.”
As for Schecter’s observation, Politico does not mention Steven Seagal. But he would get Vladimir Putin’s nod as VP. Putin made his pal a Russian citizen in 2016 and made him a special envoy for improving U.S.-Russia relations in 2018. As VP, Seagal might finally help Donald land that Trump Tower Moscow deal Putin’s been dangling.
Imagine Seagal presiding over the Senate in a Nehru jacket and gold medallion. He could give Rudy Giuliani hair dye tips.