Republicans in a race to the bottom in 'open audition' to be Trump's running mate: Lemire

Republicans are in a race to the bottom as they try to attract Donald Trump's attention as he considers his choice for running mate, according to MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been doubling down on her decision to execute a puppy decades ago for misbehaving, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) refused to say over the weekend whether he would accept losing election results for Trump, and Lemire told "Morning Joe" that vice presidential hopefuls would continue racking up negative headlines as they jostle for a spot on the GOP ticket.

"This is the Republican Party, this is who they are," said Lemire, the White House bureau chief for Politico. "It is an open audition to be his vice president. There seems to be, as we often say, no bottom here. We have a governor of South Dakota thinking that bragging about killing a puppy will make her look tough. We have a well-respected senator from South Carolina suggesting that, you know, he would not go so far as to defend American democracy in free and fair elections, which is the bedrock of who we are. Won't do it because he doesn't want to dare upset Donald Trump. It is all about flattery, it is all about 'dear leader' – that is where the GOP stands right now. Trump has remade it in his image."

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The spectacle isn't likely to end anytime soon, he added, because Trump isn't close to making a decision.

"I'm told that he is still in the early stages of the VP process," Lemire said. "He's in no rush to make this decision. The convention is not until the middle of July, they think even if it is mid- to late June, that's fine, even early July, perhaps. He likes this. He likes, I'm told, these prominent Republicans kissing up to him and trying to win his favor, and we should not forget this, a senior aid told me over the weekend, as much as he likes the flattery, it is not Trump's focus. He is consumed by the criminal trial in Manhattan resuming in a few hours. He's going to enjoy the adulation without making a decision soon."

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