Donald Trump Jr. As Vice President?

With the historic guilty verdict in the New York election-interference/hush-money trial in the rear-view mirror, all eyes are now on VeepWatch: who Donald Trump will eventually choose as his vice presidential running mate.

Much of the speculation involves Senators J.D. Vance, Tom Cotton, Tim Scott and Marco Rubio; Rep. Elise Stefanik; Governors Kristi Noem and Doug Bergum; as well as former HUD Secretary Ben Carson; and Nikki Haley. But this analysis is done through the lens of normality. In other words, we’re thinking like we would if we were the nominee, instead of thinking like Trump, who is unhinged.

It is a fool’s errand to handicap the veepsteaks through the lens of conventional wisdom. That’s because conventional wisdom went out the window the moment Trump infamously descended that escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy. And everything we’ve seen politically and election-wise since has utterly defied conventional wisdom.

All of the names in the ring, from a traditional standpoint, are legit contenders. We may not like them, or agree with their positions, but a senator, congressperson or governor are typical choices of presidential nominees.

But there’s nothing traditional or typical with Trump. With Trump, one needs to think outside the box. Because he’s not just unorthodox, he’s crazy. Worse, he’s a sociopath. He’s also an irrational, impulsive, micro-manager who demands absolute, unequivocal, unwavering loyalty. And that loyalty is the only thing he cares about.

So, Trump doesn’t need to just appoint someone who he thinks will be loyal to him, he must appoint someone who is going to demonstrate undying, self-filleting fealty right to the end, through thick and thin, through all the legal and political headwinds that are guaranteed to consume him over the next four years should he become president again.

Someone who will not just proudly and defiantly march into the House chamber in January 2029 and do the exact opposite of what Trump’s former vice-president Mike Pence did, but will illegally aide and abet his master plan to stage another coup, declare himself Dear Leader, and create a Kim-like dynasty.

Which is why I believe it could very well be someone like…drumroll please…his brainwashed son…