As Republicans have proven countless times over the past eight years, they don’t need a reason to go on TV and defend Donald Trump against whatever awful, possibly criminal thing he’s done on any given day. Whether it’s downplaying his decision to store classified government documents in the bathroom, formally declaring he did not incite an insurrection on January 6, or excusing his attacks on Jews, these people love nothing more than publicly going to bat for the guy, so much so that you’d think he was financially compensating them or had incriminating photos of them or something. But nope! They do it of their own free will and ask for nothing in return.
As it happens, though, some of the people currently defending Trump against the Manhattan district attorney’s claim that he falsified business records to cover up the hush money payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election do want something from the ex-president: to be named his 2024 running mate. And while they’d probably skip time with their own families to make excuses for him regardless, right now they’re hoping their slavish devotion to him is rewarded in a big way.
CNN reports that numerous Republicans whose names have been floated as possible Trump VPs are defending him on TV in the hopes that he’ll be impressed by their unfounded notions and decide to give them the number two job. Said one GOP strategist, “Really, the assignment is nominally ‘go defend Trump on TV.’ The assignment is actually ‘go show that you’re a really, really effective communicator so Trump believes he has in you an ally and a surrogate that’s going to be compelling.’” Said Gregg Keller, another Republican strategist, “The stakes are very high not just for the president personally and politically but also for his surrogates. They have to know—and I’m sure they all do—that everything you say is going to be noticed not just by the president but by his closest advisors as well. It’s not just going to be a situation where maybe you say something sub-optimal and it gets lost in the mix or doesn’t get noticed. That’s not how things operate in Trump World. They know and hear about everything.”
On Monday on CNN, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum dubbed the proceedings “a sham trial,” claiming, “If this was brought against anybody other than President Trump, this would have been a misdemeanor.” He contended that the alleged crimes constituted “a boring business filing case,” as though entertainment value is a requirement for prosecuting someone. (According to CNN, “Burgum has kept in regular touch with Trump officials and spoke with them as recently as the Sunday before his interview.”) On X, New York representative Elise Stefanik attacked former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, writing in a post that sounded as if it had been dictated by Trump, “The DOJ still refuses to charge the disgraced, disbarred attorney who admitted his guilt. Now, Soros-funded [Manhattan district attorney] Alvin Bragg is relying on disgraced Michael Cohen as his key witness in his sham case. The double standard of justice is clear.” (Later, she asked people to “RT” if they agreed that the trial amounts to “election interference.”) Ohio senator J.D. Vance, whose stock has apparently been rising in Trumpworld, chimed in similarly, writing, “What Alvin Bragg is doing to President Trump is a disgrace to the rule of law and the opposite of Justice. It’s also election interference.” South Carolina senator Tim Scott took things a step further, falsely claiming, “What the radical Left is doing is not just election interference, it’s election engineering. They will try everything (and fail) to stop Donald J. Trump.” Vivek Ramaswamy, who, per CNN, Trump told will not be his running mate but could get a Cabinet gig, posted a nearly three-minute-long video to X insisting the ex-president is being persecuted:
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