Who is Blowing Kisses To Donald T?
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Contributing Opinion Writer, New York Times
Who might provide an emotional counterpoint to Donald Trump, with a personality that complements his?
Who might help him win votes from women? Or Latinos? Or Black Americans?
Those sorts of questions, typical when a presidential candidate is choosing a running mate, are reportedly factors in Trump’s deliberations, which received an uptick of attention over the past few days, as many news organizations disclosed a list of contenders who had received requests for vetting materials from the Trump campaign.
But let’s get real. There’s an even more important qualification in play, one that speaks to Trump’s egomaniacal essence: Who’s the champion flatterer?
Is it J.D. Vance? His frequent appearances on television news shows, where he repeats the Trump talking points and lavishly praises the former president, amount not to commentary but to courtship. They’re the oratorical equivalent of batting his eyes.
How about Tim Scott? He set a speed record for the transition from rival to suitor, suspending his own campaign for the Republican presidential nomination one moment and gazing adoringly at Trump the next. His coquettishness peaked on the NBC News show “Meet the Press” in early May when he repeatedly refused to say whether he’d accept the 2024 election results if Trump lost. He was performing for — or, rather, blowing kisses at — an audience of one.
As recently as two weeks ago, Marco Rubio stood out for not staging a slobbering audition, as Michael C. Bender and Patricia Mazzei noted in an article in The Times. Then came Trump’s felony conviction, which Rubio denounced as furiously and hyperbolicallyas any other Trump lackey. He seemed to be making up for lost time.
According to news reports, Vance, Scott, and Rubio are on a list that also includes Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota (who made a pilgrimage to the Manhattan courthouse where Trump awaited the jury’s verdict), Representatives Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik, Ben Carson, and Senator Tom Cotton. They’re contestants in a sycophancy sweepstakes unlike the selection processes conducted by other presidential nominees over the past decade.
In 2020, Joe Biden of course picked Kamala Harris, who had savaged him on the issue of school busing in a debate only a year earlier. While Vance and Rubio once attacked Trump, that was a long time ago, in a political galaxy far, far away.
They’ve adjusted to a new world, and they understand its rules. To the groveler go the spoils.
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