McCain's decision to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate was criticized; "New York Times" journalist David Brooks said that "he took a disease that was running through the Republican party – anti-intellectualism, disrespect for facts – and he put it right at the centre of the party". Laura McGann in "Vox" says that McCain gave the "reality TV politics" and Tea Party movement more political legitimacy, as well as solidifying "the Republican Party's comfort with a candidate who would say absurdities... unleashing a political style and a values system that animated the Tea Party movement and laid the groundwork for a Trump presidency." Although McCain later expressed regret for not choosing the independent Senator Joe Lieberman (who had previously been Al Gore's running mate in 2000, while still elected as a Democrat) as his VP candidate instead, he consistently defended Palin's performances at his events.