David Frum on What Trump Is Looking for in a VP Pick: ‘Contest of Self-Humiliation’

EXCERPT:

FRUM: “Well, I — there are — I think there are basically two groups here that I see. There are the people, Doug Burgum, J.D. Vance, who have their own — who have their own vision of themselves as a potential president. And they think, you just eat the toads for four years of Trump vice presidency, then he leaves the office and then you’re well positioned to be the party’s nominee and president yourself. The problem is, Trump recognizes those people. What he is looking for is an absolute human zero, somebody who, if he says hang Mike Pence, will put the noose around his own neck and hang himself first. And so, anything that smacks of talent or character, independent — or independent judgment, is going to be anathema to Trump. He’s going to say I don’t want those people. What I’m looking for is a contest of self-humiliation in which I can pick the most negligible person, maybe who adds, you know, gender or racial diversity to the ticket, maybe. But prime criterion is zero-ness. So we’re watching, you know, America’s Next Top Zero.”