Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, might team with Omarosa Manigault to improve his perception among women and Blacks.
The headline many never thought would never be written is plastered, in one form or another, on screens across America: Donald Trump, the billionaire political outsider, is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Like the bad guy wrestler that spectators hope gets pummeled but instead emerges from the fight victorious to the angst of the crowd, Mr. Trump, who many voters view unfavorable but who also has a loyal fan base of mostly white men, is the last man standing after more than a dozen candidates – including a famed neurosurgeon and the son of a former U.S. President – exited the race for the Republican nomination.
After a somewhat grueling pre-show, Mr. Trump heads to the main-event, which, instead of a head-to-head battle as its often portrayed, consists of a tag-team match: the presidential candidate and their hand-picked partner, who could become the Vice President.
Mr. John Kasich, the Ohio Governor who today suspended his campaign, is rumored to be on the short-list for VP, as is Mr. Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey. But given that Mr. Trump already has a strong following among white men, his choice for a tag partner may be informed more by the campaign’s weakness rather than its strength.
In other words, because Mr. Trump isn’t remarkably popular among women of all races (he’s often labeled a sexist) and African-Americans of all ages (he’s often labeled a racist), his partner might be a mixture of the aforementioned: a black woman.
And because Mr. Trump is selling a defiant culture rather than a distinguished competency, the proficiency of the woman selected would be second, I assume, to her pedigree and personality, the latter needed in order to keep consistent the amount of earned media allocated to the campaign.
But, within Mr. Trump’s inner-circle is a nationally recognized black woman with both proficiency and personality: Ms. Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on the first season of ‘The Apprentice’ and someone who worked in the White House during the Clinton Administration. It’s true that Ms. Manigault already serves as surrogate for Mr. Trump and on cable television refutes the narratives that he’s a sexist and a racist. But having the sassy clergywoman up front and center, and on the debate stage, would further validate Mr. Trump’s claim that he respects and values women and African-Americans while also creating great television, which has become the expectation of the Trump campaign among network executives.
Before rolling your eyes and dismissing this idea as far-fetched, consider that Mr. Trump is at this point without rival and has as good a shot as his competitor in getting to reside within the White House. If nothing else, Mr. Trump’s political success should serve as a reminder why never should never be said by anyone.
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