Politics - News Analysis

REPORT: Mike Pence is Busy ‘Repudiating Trump’ Trying to Save Himself While Other Republicans Flee

Uh-oh. Trump’s numbers and scandalous fate are starting to drive people away from the cult leader. Not to brag about anything, but this site has been predicting this inevitability for the last two months and we’ve pointed out the evidence of it happening in real-time all along.

Obviously, the move away from Donald Trump has accelerated substantially in the last week, particularly if we trace it back to Bill Barr’s firing of US Attorney Berman at SDNY. Since then we’ve had the re-tweet of the white power video, COVID has come roaring back and, of course, the most serious scandal to rock a presidency and a country in generations – the allegation that Trump ignored intelligence showing that Russia paid a bounty for American lives taken by the Taliban.

John Heilemann surveyed the landscape on Morning Joe this morning and summarized the situation, highlighting the fact that it appears that even Vice President Mike Pence is now putting distance between himself and Trump. We have the transcript from Rawstory, and the video below:

“We’re not at the point yet, I want to be not hyperbolic about it, but we’re getting to a point where we’re going to get the answer to a question you’ve been asking me three and a half years, which is when are Republicans going to abandon Donald Trump and stop following him down the path to political doom as they have done for three and a half years.”

… It’s about the electoral math, the day will come when it’ll be more costly politically to stick with Donald Trump than it will be to leave Donald Trump. When we get to that moment, Republicans will abandon Donald Trump, this is a matter of pure self-interest.”

Then Heilemann started naming names, and giving examples:

“[Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell standing up and wearing a mask is a direct repudiation to Donald Trump. [South Dakota Republican Senator] John Thune the other day stood up and said the White House needed to change its message, he elaborated. “You pointed to the others. Mike Pence is now effectively repudiating the president, he’s on the phone with governors yesterday congratulating the governors who are shutting back down their states right now. That’s not an explicit repudiation of Donald Trump, but Mike Pence in a mask and not saying ‘full speed ahead on the economy, you governors who are being careful are doing the right thing,’ is Mike Pence understanding his political interests and Donald Trump’s interests are starting to diverge because the president has put them all in a position they could all be doomed.”

“These are the sounds of Republicans starting to see the sign where the split has not yet come but it’s on the horizon and as Donald Trump keeps propelling them down the path towards political doom he will see people abandon him in explicit ways. We are not that far-off from that as his numbers continue to nose-dive.”

Yes. This isn’t a genius insight so much as understanding survivors’ instincts. Mike Pence does have political aspirations that go beyond being Vice President. He likely knows that Trump is in real trouble, particularly with the Russian bounty story and it is conceivable that Trump won’t make it through this month.

Pence surely wants the top spot on the ticket, but that’s likely not possible. He is inseparable from this administration’s worst abuses. But he knows that to have any political hope going forward, he has to start putting real distance between himself and Trump.

That’s a tough balance, knowing that anything but fawning loyalty will get him replaced on the ticket anyway. Watch.

Yep.

We couldn’t agree more.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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