Trump Sets Up Pence, Claims He Has the ‘Power To Reject Electors’

If you thought you heard a loud groan coming from a long ways off, that was Mike Pence, whose morning just went south in a big way. Donald Trump has been broadly hinting to the base for a while now that all their hopes and dreams are riding on the vice president. “If he comes through” was Trump’s prayer in Georgia last night. Then there’s this.

The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021

Not according to any provision of the constitution that anyone else knows of, and definitely not according to the 12th Amendment, but Trump may have some coloring book version of the document hidden in the blankets with the empty French fry boxes and filet-of-fish wrappers.

Trump and his cronies have been holding out false hope for all this time for the purpose of grifting the base for legal fees. Now the drama moves at last to the congressional certification of the election. This is purely ceremonial and Pence’s job description is clear. “The president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.” Pence is the master of ceremonies here, and prosecutor or judge of absolutely nothing. But he’s expected now to do something heroic, magical even, pull a rabbit from a hat, to save Donald Trump. Trump wants Pence to “throw out” votes and force a situation where the House votes on the president — or so it is conjectured. New York Times:

“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in Georgia on Monday night for two Republican senators who face runoff elections on Tuesday that will determine which party controls the Senate. “Of course, if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him as much.”

If Mr. Pence were to throw out enough votes for Mr. Biden, then neither candidate would reach the threshold of 270 votes needed to secure an Electoral College victory.

At that point, under the Constitution, each state’s delegation in the House would receive one vote. This could favor Mr. Trump, as 26 states have majority-Republican delegations.

However Wednesday unfolds, Alan Raul, a longtime Washington lawyer who wrote an Op-ed in The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Pence had no choice but to simply count the votes, said in an interview Tuesday that the country finds itself in a perilous position.

“The prospect of the vice president and members of Congress trying to overturn the will of the people rather than duly counting governor-certified votes would be unconstitutional and calamitous,” Mr. Raul said, adding that it would set an “exceptionally dangerous precedent.”

“If the sedition caucus in the House and Senate goes forward with their utterly unprecedented attack on the 2020 election, abetted by the vice president, it would torque our democracy for years to come.”

The question becomes, what will Mr. Mayonnaise and White Bread do:

1. Count the votes according to procedure and let Trump eat it;
2. Join the Sedition Caucus;
3. Pretend like nothing unusual is happening and it’s 1877 redux all the time;
4. Attempt to stay in the Romney, Toomey, Sasse coalition of sane GOPers;
5. Something else, see my comment.

This could be a turning point for Pence. Trump may scapegoat him and tank him with the base because Trump is insane. And Pence will have it coming to him, because he knows Trump is insane and has indulged him anyway all these years.