I'd like to say this is surprising

But that would be a lie.

Donald Trump repeatedly discussed with advisers the idea of naming his daughter Ivanka as his running mate in 2016 before settling for Mike Pence, according to a former Trump campaign aide who became a star witness in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Rick Gates, who in the summer of 2016 was Trump’s deputy campaign chairman, describes in a new book how Trump -- wary of the “Never Trump” sentiment in the Republican party and still stinging from his competitors’ attacks during the GOP primary -- deliberated for about a month on a vice presidential candidate he could trust completely.

“During a VP discussion that included Jared and the other kids all assembled in one room, Trump said, ‘I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?’ There was silence,” Gates writes in “Wicked Game: An Insider’s Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost,” referring to Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner.

  Bloomberg

Junior must have been devastated. Again. Imagine what Melania would have done!

“All heads turned toward her, and she just looked surprised. We all knew Trump well enough to keep our mouths shut and not laugh,” Gates writes, according to a copy of the book obtained by Bloomberg News. “He went on: ‘She’s bright, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!”’

Junior at this point was seethe-crying inside.

The book is set to be released by Post Hill Press on Oct. 13.

[...]

Gates was indicted in October 2017 by prosecutors investigating Russian interference in the election and ties between Trump’s campaign and Moscow. He became a cooperating witness and was sentenced in December 2019 to three years’ probation and 45 days of intermittent confinement for tax and lobbying crimes committed with Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort.

[...]

Gates, who served out his time in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic, writes that he chafed for two years under a judge-mandated gag order, and expresses outrage over the Mueller probe. But the bulk of the book is about his recollections of working on Trump’s insurgent campaign, the president’s inauguration, and the pro-Trump group America First Policies.

Don't try tax and lobbying crimes at home. You won't fare so well.

The former aide’s testimony helped send Manafort to prison and also to convict Trump ally Roger Stone.

Manafort is also serving his time at home. How nice for him. But what didn't he have that Stone has that Trump has not commuted his sentence or pardoned him?

Trump was open to the possibility of adding former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or then-Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee to the ticket. Both took themselves out of consideration, Gates writes.

No fools, they.

Another potential VP choice, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, “drew harsh comparisons to Sarah Palin” because of her inexperience, Gates writes. And Trump derided another possibility, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, as “Mr. Magoo,” Gates says. Sessions went on to be Trump’s first attorney general.

And regrets it to this day, I'm sure. Sad.

Manafort then “subtly pushed once more for someone who could bring balance to the ticket, like Pence,” Gates writes.

“But Trump said, ‘Look, I don’t like any of these people,’” Gates writes. “Once again, he said, ‘I think it should be Ivanka.’”

What a fucking idiot.

Trump continued to bring up the idea over the next few weeks, which signaled to his advisers “just how serious he was about putting his politically inexperienced daughter just a heartbeat from the presidency,” Gates writes.

She couldn't do any worse than him. But what made him think a family duo would fly?

Oh, wait. Manafort tried it out!

Manafort twice tested voters’ opinions of Ivanka Trump by placing her name next to a dozen potential vice presidential candidates in internal campaign polls, Gates writes. “She didn’t poll tremendously high, but higher than we expected, and that only added to the seriousness of her consideration.”

They're now hoping to run her for the top job in 2024. And letting Junior think it's him they're grooming.

In early July 2016, according to Gates, “Trump still seemed cool to Pence,” and “the Ivanka idea started to catch some momentum. People on the team argued that Ivanka brought a balance to her father. ‘She’s more moderate.’ ‘She could help with independents!’”

But Ivanka Trump pulled herself out of the running, Gates writes. “She went to her father and said, ‘No, Dad. It’s not a good idea.’ And he capitulated.”

She's not quite as stupid as the others, apparently.

Trump and Pence had a “cordial” meeting, but Trump wasn’t sold, Gates writes. Trump had early called Pence “a loser” because he’d endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries and was struggling in his own gubernatorial re-election contest, Gates writes.

Then Gates got a phone call from campaign aide John McEntee, who said there was a mechanical issue with Trump’s plane. Stranded overnight in Indiana, Trump had breakfast with Pence, and was impressed with the governor’s assertive side when he verbally ripped into Hillary Clinton, Gates writes.

Pathetic. Want to bet that there was nothing wrong with the plane, and that Manafort and McEntee set the meeting up, prepping Pence in advance how to win Trump over?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.