In case you missed it, the gang from “Saturday Night Live” did an epic send-up of how Donald Trump is vetting potential running mates. Well, now we know who the real Trump is considering for a running mate–and there’s nothing funny about it. The man who has spent the last year going rogue is giving serious thought to nominating the woman who originally went rogue on the campaign trail–Sarah Palin.
Ben Carson, who is helping lead Trump’s vice presidential search committee, told The Washington Post that Palin is among “the people on our list” of potential running mates. At first glance, Palin would make sense. She’s a maverick, like Trump. But more importantly, she would help Trump build a bridge to a demographic that has been mostly lukewarm to him at best–social conservatives. Never mind that with Palin on the ticket, he would drop all pretense of moving toward the center.
But then there’s the 500-pound gorilla in the room. No, it’s not Palin’s word-salad way of speaking, or her total incompetence on the issues. It’s the fact that she found it acceptable to let her youngest son, Trig, use the family dog as a foot stool. Let’s let Ana Kasperian refresh our memories of this.
Any parent with even an iota of decency would have made Trig get down right then. Not the Diva. She plastered it on Facebook. That’s not being rogue, Sarah. That shows you’re an unfit mother. And that also shows that you are morally unfit to be dog catcher, let alone a heartbeat away from the presidency.
It says a lot about Palin that even though she was deservedly sliced, diced, and julienned for letting Trig get away with this, these pictures are still on Facebook. And it says at least as much about Trump that he’s even thinking of picking a woman who even thinks this is acceptable behavior. But then again, we’re talking about a guy who finds it acceptable to plaster a private cell phone number on social media and mock the disabled. The more I think about it, Palin and Trump would deserve each other. Also.
One of the other people on Trump’s short list, per Carson, is almost as revealing about Trump’s character–Chris Christie. How’s that, you ask? One word–Bridgegate.
Remember, folks, Bridget Kelly, David Wildstein, and their cohorts almost certainly knew that shuttering lanes on the George Washington Bridge would put innocent people’s safety at risk. As I argued on Daily Kos shortly after this scandal broke in full, there is no way such a dangerous and outrageously criminal stunt would have even been contemplated unless Christie fostered an atmosphere in his administration that made such behavior acceptable. If Trump is even considering Christie as a running mate at this point, he is effectively telling the nation that he condones this sort of thuggery.
Then again, the Donald already has given that message loud and clear. Remember, we know that he condones violent behavior from his supporters. We also know that he hired Corey Lewandowski as his campaign manager–and is reportedly considering him to be chief of staff if he wins–despite ample evidence that he has no business being within an area code of any campaign. Hmmm–that may explain why Trump and Christie seem to be getting along most of the time.
So there you have it, folks. Two of the people on Trump’s short list for a running mate are a woman who is an unfit mother by any definition, and a governor who has fostered an environment where criminal behavior is acceptable. His followers may think either of these choices will burnish his rogue image. But to the rest of us, they would be further proof he’s manifestly unfit to be president.
