Since assuming the mantle, Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance has pretty much shit the couch. The embarrassments keep mounting. Vance’s dull speech at the convention may have lulled Trump to sleep, but women sat up when the Ohio senator was caught on a recording slagging off childless women, calling them “miserable cat ladies” with “no direct stake” in the future of America.

How could Team Trump think Vance was a winning idea? The answer could lie in a parallel moment eight years ago, the last time Trump had to decide on a running mate. It was the summer of 2016, and the then-reality TV host had whittled the field down to three final contenders: former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.

Trump reportedly felt most comfortable with Christie, but his daughter Ivanka held a grudge against the former prosecutor, who had helped send her father-in-law Charles Kushner to jail. Gingrich was a pass since an ex-wife had called the congressman out for cheating, and Trump had already secured the adulterer vote. Pence, a Bible-thumping outsider, seemed like a boring long shot… until fate intervened.

According to Politico, when Trump dropped in to Indiana for a vetting visit, his jet was grounded with a flat tire. Ivanka and her brothers decided to jump on a plane and join their father, who was traveling with Hope Hicks, Ivanka’s fashion PR pal-turned-campaign press secretary. The next day, the group gathered for breakfast at the Governor’s Mansion. It went well and Pence rocketed to the top of the list.

2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (bottom L) smiles as he is........

© The Daily Beast