Donald Trump has said he’ll name his running mate this week ahead of the GOP national convention in Cleveland. A number of names have been floated over the past month, and others have made recommendations. Let’s begin with the, well, stupidest suggestion.
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) was on the short list. He even campaigned with Trump in North Carolina, but then, abruptly, took his name out of consideration. The implication is that the two didn’t get along, or that Corker just didn’t do that great a job. But could it also be that Trump learned to question Corker’s judgment?
After removing himself from the list, Corker suggested that Trump should pick his daughter, Ivanka, as his running mate.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) has a suggestion for Donald Trump’s running mate — his daughter Ivanka.
“His best running mate, by the way, would be Ivanka,” Corker said Wednesday after removing himself from consideration to be Trump’s vice presidential pick.
“I know that wouldn’t pass muster, probably, but I don’t know that I’ve met a more composed, brilliant, beautiful-in-every-way person,” he continued, adding that Trump’s son Eric is “equally impressive.”
The U.S. Constitution requires a person to be at least 35 years to be president or vice president. Ivanka will turn 35 on Oct. 30, a little more than a week before Election Day.
There’s one other, minor, Constitutional problem. Article Two of the Constitution says, “The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.”
In other words, New York Electoral College electors could not vote for Trump & Trump. But that’s a small problem, since the GOP is not likely to win New York, and the Electoral College is “winner take all.”
A more important reason Ivanka would be a bad choice is that Donald already is seen as relying too much on family as advisors and campaign workers. And the convention might look like just a Trump family reunion.
According to a source close to Trump’s circle and briefed on the convention plans, all of Trump’s grown children will be speaking at the convention. Though the plans are still in flux, there will be a clear focus on Ivanka, who may have a Wednesday night speaking slot. There are even discussions of having Ivanka introduce Trump when he accepts the nomination on the convention’s final night, instead of the tycoon’s wife, Melania.
The source said that sons Donald Jr. and Eric will also speak, likely on topics such as the Second Amendment, Benghazi and national security.
Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr., will also be playing key roles off the convention stage. According to another campaign source close to the convention planning, one or more of Trump’s children could head to Cleveland a week early to serve as an envoy to delegates on committees determining convention rules and the party platform, as well as, possibly, to do several cable news interviews.
And all three of the children — as well as Ivanka’s husband, Jared Kushner, who is already playing a major role in the campaign as a speechwriter and envoy to the Republican Party establishment — are scheduled to appear every morning of the convention at delegation breakfasts. It’s largely in an effort to isolate, or even snuff out, potential anti-Trump speakers looking to mount a challenge to Trump’s nomination.
Some say that Trump is relying on family because so many Republican stars have declined to speak, and many others say they plan to skip the convention altogether.
CNN reached out to 16 Republican elected officials, leaders and major fundraisers associated with former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Speaking on background, none of them said they were planning to go to this summer’s Republican convention. They didn’t say they would vote for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. But they said they were not yet supporting Trump.
2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney declared he’d skip the convention, joining at least three prior Republican nominees — John McCain and both Presidents Bush — in declining to attend the event.
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told CNN’s Manu Raju that “some of Trump’s positions” make it “very difficult for me” to support him.
Meanwhile, Trump wants to feature sports stars, bridging the gap between America’s two largest “religions:” politics and sports.
People familiar with the planning of the convention told Bloomberg Politics on Tuesday that campaign aides were lining up several retired athletes, coaches and other sports leaders to appear at the convention. On Wednesday, former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and NASCAR CEO Brian France, two of those on the list, both announced through spokespeople that they would not attend.
After this story’s publication, Trump said at least one of the sports figures, Tyson, wasn’t asked to fill a speaking role. News of Tyson’s involvement had sparked disapproval online on the same night Trump likened the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to “rape.”
“Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I’m sure he would do a good job if he was,” Trump tweeted. “The media makes everything up!”
On Wednesday, Jo Mignano, Tyson’s personal publicist, told Bloomberg Politics that the former boxer will not attend the convention. “He’ll be nowhere near Cleveland,” she said.
Back to the main story, the main reason it would be such a bad idea for Donald to pick Ivanka as his running mate is that it would negate his primary argument this year—that it’s time to put an end to dynasties in American politics.
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