Donald Trump has his Revenge Rallies Roadshow mapped out for the summer. Meanwhile, Mike Pence, delusional as ever, is going out on the road as well, in a futile effort to gain traction as the safe Republican daddy in 2024. Could it be possible that he lives in such an adamantine echo chamber that nobody presents him with basic facts like 61% of Republicans believe that the election was stolen — and that Trump keeps talking about how it’s all Pence’s fault? Unless Pence is campaigning in a Dr. Strangelove-esque mine shaft, it’s inconceivable that he doesn’t know about this. Or, maybe he’ll make it go away with thots and preyers, who knows? The Hill:
Pence responded last week to the criticism directed his way with some of his bluntest remarks on his decision, doubling down on his insistence that he did the right thing.
“There is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president,” Pence said. “And I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution.”
Despite the defense, Republicans almost unanimously concede that there will be some Republican voters who will permanently turn their backs on the former vice president over the certification on Jan. 6, which took place after Trump supporters ransacked the Capitol. Any drop-off in support among the party base could hurt the former vice president in what is anticipated to be a crowded 2024 primary field.
One aide to the former president went so far as to tell The Hill that Pence is done in Republican politics. […]
Trump himself could also work to hurt Pence’s future political ambitions even if Trump doesn’t run for office again himself.
GOP donor Dan Eberhart told The Hill that Trump is the “biggest obstacle in Pence’s path to the presidency in 2024.”
“[Pence] has earned it,” he added, referring to Pence getting the Republican nomination, “but Trump is likely going to pour cold water on his plans.”
Trump has already come out swinging against his former vice president since Jan. 6, saying that day that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done” and hinting in April that he’d consider Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as a potential running mate in 2024.
Personally, I think Pence is deader than a doornail. Just today, Trump is ranting about Barr and McConnell not doing enough to give him an election victory. You think he has forgotten about Pence? When to Trump’s mind, Pence had a direct shot at overturning the election? No way. And if Trump runs again, Pence won’t be on the ticket. I think that’s something you can take to the bank.
The only question now is how many times does Pence have to get booed and publicly humiliated before he gets the picture? He’s touted as somebody “who can straddle the fence between the party establishment and the Trump wing of the party,” in the event Trump doesn’t run, but I don’t think the base wants Pence at all. I think Trump sealed Pence’s fate when he sent the mob who built the gallows running down the road to “Hang Mike Pence!” It’s just a question now of when Pence acknowledges that fact and heads on down to K Street to lobby. Color me in the group that thinks he’s finished in Republican politics.
Pence is as dead politically as Julius Caesar. The Pence-like thing we see at podiums trying to claim the leadership of the GOP is a combination of a triumph of the Embalmer’s Art and advanced robotics.
Well said. Pence isn’t going anywhere. He never had much of a base to begin with and having alienated Trump’s base, it’s all over.
And that is actually a blessing for him. There is no longer any such thing as a career in Republican politics anyway. It has deteriorated into a career in Q-politics, and only an idiot would want that.
“Pence responded last week to the criticism directed his way with some of his bluntest remarks on his decision, doubling down on his insistence that he did the right thing.” Here the Hill betrays bias. Pence DID do the right thing, so “doubling down” is the wrong term, implying as it does that he is is refusing to back down even though he did the wrong thing.
Excellent point, Dana!