“It’s going to be Apprentice 2.0”: Media should avoid sensationalizing Trump veepstakes

In a prerecorded interview for Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures, former President Donald Trump generated headlines for his campaign by name-dropping two contenders for his vice presidential pick: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. Both have been frequent subjects of Trump veepstakes speculation.

Although the identity of the running mate of the likely 2024 Republican presidential nominee is certainly news, media outlets should be especially wary of sensationalist coverage. Reporting indicates that Trump is “trolling the press” over interest in his VP selection, possibly as a deliberate campaign strategy.

According to a recent Time magazine article about Trump allies trying to sink Scott’s potential nomination, “Trump has enjoyed toying with the media” over interest in his pick, laughing with his aides aboard his private plane at the headlines he can create:

Trump has enjoyed toying with the media over his potential VP pick. At a Fox News Town Hall in Des Moines ahead of the Iowa caucuses, he told moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum he already had a running mate in mind. “I can’t tell you that,” he said. “But I know who it’s going to be.” When he was flying back to New York on his private plane, Trump Force One, he was scrolling through his phone and laughing with top aides over the speculation he unleashed, according to sources who were with him.

The stunt could foreshadow Trump’s strategy for the coming months. As Trump edges closer and closer to officially solidifying the nomination, he’s likely to continue trolling the press and forcing VP hopefuls to publicly audition for the role.

Discussing Scott’s declaration of love for Trump during the latter’s New Hampshire primary victory speech, Time reported:

It was the kind of fawning spectacle that Trump relishes. “He’s going to cart people out, he’s going to make people interested, people are going to get their trials,” says a Trump source. “It’s going to be Apprentice 2.0.”

As the likely Republican presidential nominee, Trump’s selection for vice president will be news. Entirely ignoring the question is not a reasonable option. But while right-wing media are invested in the clickbait spectacle of “Apprentice 2.0,” mainstream outlets should not indulge in similarly obsessive coverage.

On Monday morning, The New York Times provided an example of what not to do. The opinion section granted Kellyanne Conway, Trump's 2016 campaign manager with an infamously adverse relationship to the truth, a guest essay in which to speculate on “one of the most popular questions among the political cognoscenti right now.” Her column contains no new developments, instead focusing on generic thoughts about a seemingly random assortment of Republican names -- and attacks on the Biden/Harris ticket.

Much like the lows of Trump-dominated 2016 campaign coverage -- and the wall-to-wall press for some of Trump’s current legal issues -- overly sensational coverage of Trump VP speculation can only help the Trump campaign.

“It’s going to be Apprentice 2.0”: Media should avoid sensationalizing Trump veepstakes

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Donald Trump

The New York Times

Kellyanne Conway