As the Republican convention nears, Donald Trump has had to hurriedly tie up a few remaining loose ends. There’s the wee matter of scraping up $6 million fast to cover the festivities. Plus, a vice-president has to be found, because the Constitution requires it. After a frenetic scramble, Trump settled on generic right-wing functionary Mike Pence, who had reportedly once told a fellow Republican he considers Trump unacceptable. The Pence selection was chaotic, leaking out Thursday morning, then being disputed by various sources, in a way that suggested hesitation by the candidate. Trump announced yesterday he would delay his announcement because of the terror attack in Nice, France, then went ahead and carried out the announcement anyway. Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, explained that the candidate “emotionally reacted,” which may not be the kind of temperamental quality voters are looking for from their president in the face of unexpected events.
According to Dana Bash, Trump had actually reconsidered his decision and was working the phones as late as midnight trying to see if he could get out of his choice of Pence. Kelly O’Donnell reported the same:
The selection of Pence was hasty to the point of total negligence. Trump failed to attend to the basic logistical work of unveiling a nomination: announcing it to supporters, preparing websites and social-media outlets to accept the normal flood of small donations that usually follow such an announcement, and so on.
To recap the events, the Republican vice-presidential candidate has said that the presidential pick should not be elected president; the Republican presidential candidate has tried as recently as last night to replace his vice-presidential candidate; and the campaign manager has publicly described the presidential candidate as jittery and emotional in the face of upsetting news. And all this has come out in the last day!
