It is kind of sad that Mike Pence thinks he can do anything to gather support and point the Right in any direction under his leadership.

It is not like we feel bad for the guy but as we’ve reported before, Pence was at his best on the most important day of his life, when he had to stand up for democracy and that’s not a small thing. The fact that Pence thinks there’s a place for him to be a leader in the Republican party is a relatively small thing. But it does help Democrats, even if it’s minimal, whenever Republicans take Trump on.

Pence is taking Trump on and the Trump camp, including Trump himself, isn’t disciplined enough to simply ignore Pence, and fired back, which does nothing but help Pence because he’s being lifted up.

NEW: 💥

The rupture is complete

Pence tells me he’s open to running v Trump in ‘24 – will go “where we’re called” – and heads goes to Ga today to join ranks against Trump’s vengeance tour

Trump spox says Pence is “desperate to chase his lost relevance”https://t.co/iLfQN0eFvA

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 23, 2022

Huh. Just being “open” to running is against MAGA law and Pence knows that, hell – everyone knows that, ask Ron DeSantis. “Joining ranks against Trump’s vengeance tour isn’t all that out there or brave, he’s got plenty of company, including even some MAGA company that oppose Trump’s picks.

But it sure appears that Mike Pence is completely oblivious to the fact that he’s entirely irrelevant. If someone is going to oppose Trump it will be MAGA DeSantis and ______ non-MAGA Republican option who will get no more than 33% of the Republican vote in a head to head match against MAGA. Chris Christie is an example. He might even draw some independent and Democratic voters.

Pence will not be on that blank line and he’s experienced enough to know it. The one thing that explains this behavior is that Pence just wants to piss Trump off and get under his skin. That would be cool but Pence isn’t cool. He saved democracy for four years, but he’s still not cool. So, this is just odd.

And of course Trump couldn’t take this so he had to respond.

Trump’s spokesperson Taylor Budowich called Pence irrelevant and touted Trump’s endorsement record. Also the remark about Pence losing the governor’s race in 2016…OUCH.

“Mike Pence was set to lose a governor’s race in 2016 before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged,” he told the Times in a statement. “Now, desperate to chase his lost relevance, Pence is parachuting into races, hoping someone is paying attention. The reality is, President Trump is already 82-3 with his endorsements, and there’s nothing stopping him from saving America in 2022 and beyond.”

LOL, these two.

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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, with Nicole Hickman