Vance has the charisma of a moldy potato and Johnson is a fucking weirdo. Trump is (justly) hated by many but he was a celebrity with decades of fame behind him and billions of dollars to throw at the presidency.

Do you think that Vance or Johnson really have the skill and charisma required to stay atop the twitching corpse of a horse that used to be the republican party and keep it moving?

Here's a general rule and a hint - (aspiring) dictators and authoritarians always fill the positions closest to them with people who are semi-competent, but not competent or ambitious enough to threaten their power. That's because the greatest threat to their power is from their allies, not their enemies.

If Republicans found a spine or some love for their country one day they could easily impeach and remove Trump - there's no doubt the Democrats would vote for it. And, if Republicans ever do the math and decide that Trump is more of a weight than a boost, they will do exactly that.

This dynamic is why we've got Pete Hegseth running the military instead of someone... sober.