Syndicated columnist Ann Coulter published a warning for Donald Trump today, urging him not to pick a vice presidential running mate whose record on immigration would undermine the draconian stance he has taken throughout his campaign, likening the choice Trump faces to Abraham Lincoln’s search for a running mate who was “ferociously opposed to slavery.”
By selecting an “establishment” figure like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Coulter wrote, Trump could give Congress an opening to impeach him and remove him from office in order to install his vice president in the White House.
Instead, she said, Trump should choose a fellow anti-immigrant hardliner like Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama or Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
She likened Trump’s push to build a border wall and deport millions of undocumented immigrants to the fight to abolish slavery and compared Trump’s search for a vice presidential candidate to Abraham Lincoln’s.
Lincoln’s “new Republican Party stood for the soul of the nation against the self-interest of the rich and powerful, just as Trump’s does today,” she wrote, and Lincoln picked Hannibal Hamlin to serve as his running mate in 1860 not because they were personally close, but due to the fact “Hamlin was ferociously opposed to slavery.”
“The official GOP’s opposition to Trump is the modern slavery party’s version of the Civil War, fought by plutocrats with money and media,” Coutler said. “For his vice president, Trump needs anyone — from business, academia, the military or the political world — who is Hannibal Hamlin on immigration, a warrior to defend our country from the rich’s predatory demands for cheap foreign labor.”
Lincoln’s new Republican Party stood for the soul of the nation against the self-interest of the rich and powerful, just as Trump’s does today.
Lincoln didn’t choose some eminent Whig politician to give his ticket gravitas. He chose Hannibal Hamlin. No one other than a “Jeopardy!” contestant even remembers Hamlin’s name today. He didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
Hamlin was a former Democrat, didn’t meet Lincoln until after the election, served only one term as Lincoln’s vice president, was not liked by first lady Mary Todd and didn’t work closely with the president.
He made no sense as Lincoln’s vice president on any level, except the only one that mattered: Hamlin was ferociously opposed to slavery – the new party’s signature issue. He strongly supported Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, arguing that slaves should be armed. As soon as slavery was ended, Lincoln dropped Hamlin as his vice president.
The official GOP’s opposition to Trump is the modern slavery party’s version of the Civil War, fought by plutocrats with money and media.
For his vice president, Trump needs anyone – from business, academia, the military or the political world – who is Hannibal Hamlin on immigration, a warrior to defend our country from the rich’s predatory demands for cheap foreign labor. His running mate also needs to be smart and courageous and not in love with his own press notices.
Among the possibilities Trump ought to be considering are people like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo (the latter two are up for re-election this year, but perhaps they can run for both offices simultaneously).
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama is one of approximately one elected officials I completely trust to protect Americans from the cheap labor-demanding rich – which is why Trump needs to keep him in the Senate.
