'Race to self-abuse': Columnist delivers withering breakdown of GOP VP competition

The shortlist of former President Donald Trump's possible running mates for 2024 is a rogues gallery of election deniers and extremists who want to rip the rule of law to shreds, Will Saletan wrote for The Bulwark in a blistering analysis released on Tuesday.

"Normally, contenders for the vice presidency would showcase their accomplishments, their communication skills, or their ability to carry a key state," wrote Saletan. "But in Trump’s case, the rules are different. He’s an authoritarian crook, and the contestants are competing to show how far they’d go to defend his crimes and his abuse of power."

Among the contenders, he wrote, are Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who refused to condemn Trump when he mocked the husband of former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) for his military service; Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who has openly said she'll support Trump even if he's convicted of a crime, and has recently made the news for bragging about shooting her puppy; Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), who continues to question the results of the 2020 election and defended Trump's "birther" attacks on Haley; Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who have both refused to commit to accepting this year's election results; and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has called for Trump to ignore Supreme Court rulings whenever he doesn't like them.

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There is a reason why so many of Trump's candidates appear unwilling to make any commitments to the rule of law, Saletan wrote — it's because that was the former president's biggest gripe with his last running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence.

"In the weeks after the 2020 election, Trump pulled every lever — Republican governors, state officials, the Justice Department, and the Supreme Court — in a desperate bid to stay in power," wrote Saletan. "One after another, the institutions defied him. Trump’s last hope was his vice president. And when that man refused to betray his oath, Trump realized that in choosing a running mate who had a shred of integrity, he had made a fatal mistake."

And now, he concluded, Trump "is determined not to repeat that mistake."