Meet Senator Tom Cotton, who could be Donald Trump’s VP: he’s decried pro-Palestine protesters, called for military suppression of Black Lives Matter, and flown a flag associated with Capitol riots

Republican Senator Tom Cotton has called former US President Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush-money case a “travesty of justice”. While a Republican senator supporting the party’s presidential candidate is no surprise, Cotton’s comments are particularly important as reports have emerged that he’s a contender for Trump’s running mate in the US elections later this year. CBS has reported that Cotton is among those who received vetting documents from Trump’s campaign office. Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, has had a quick rise on Capitol Hill, which began in 2013 in the House of Representatives. Cotton, who considered running for president a few years back, is not without controversy himself. From being accused of promoting violence to supporting military intervention, here is what you need to know about the 47-year-old military man. Tom Cotton’s long-time relationship with Donald Trump According to The New York Times, Trump has “spoken highly” of Cotton for years. Back in 2016, Trump, who was then US president, considered Cotton for an administration post, with the two forming a strong relationship. The publication reports they worked together on immigration issues at the time. In a profile piece in the New Yorker, Cotton said that when Trump is mocked for his hair, skin colour and accent, it is actually mockery of all his supporters: “What I don’t think they realise is that out here in Arkansas and the heartland and the places that made a difference in that election, like Michigan and Wisconsin, when we hear that kind of ridicule, we hear them making fun of the way we look, and the way we talk, and the way we think.” He went to Harvard and wrote for the Crimson Cotton studied at Harvard Law School where he helped organise the Harvard Model Congress and wrote for the Crimson, the campus daily paper. Per the Crimson, in his final column in the publication, Cotton said he took stances that he hoped would help stimulate debate: “It was my intent to challenge with my writings; and by challenging, I meant to improve, to jolt slumbering minds into wakefulness.” It was this platform that helped elevate his profile. His “Send in the Troops” column in The New York Times In 2020, Cotton created a stir when he wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled “Send in the Troops” where he said the military should be called to end the Black Lives Matter protests that were going on at the time. The protests happened in the wake of the murder of George Floyd – a Black man who was killed by a white police officer during an arrest. Cotton’s piece got massive backlash, including from reporters working at the publication itself. The New York Times later admitted that the piece did not meet all its editorial requirements. His controversial comments on the Gaza protests President Biden has allowed the pro-Hamas mob to dictate White House policy towards Israel. We need President Trump back to restore American strength. pic.twitter.com/8nOEsxEjug — Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 3, 2024 Earlier this year, Cotton came under fire yet again for seemingly encouraging violence. He said people should “take matters into your own hands” and confront pro-Palestine protesters with physical force if they blocked roads. Protests have erupted across university campuses, with demonstrators calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war. Cotton later said in an interview on Fox News that “if [the protesters] glued their hands to their car or pavement, it’d probably be pretty painful to have their skin ripped off”. He also commented on a video of a man dragging protesters off the road with “[that’s] how it should be done”. His Capitol riots flag I stand with George Washington and Martha-Ann Alito over pearl-clutching libs at the New York Times and Democrats in Congress. pic.twitter.com/bSdBhOJ2N7 — Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) May 23, 2024 According to The Daily Beast, Cotton has been flying the controversial Christian nationalist “appeal to heaven” flag outside his Senate office, which shows a pine tree. Per the publication, the flag was used as a unifier among “religious pro-Trump insurrectionists who stormed the US Capitol”. He’s a military man The Arkansas senator served almost five years in the US Army as an infantry officer, in Iraq and Afghanistan, per his website. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Infantry Badge. He told the New Yorker that he “wanted to lead troops in combat” and left his law career to serve his country.