Mike Pence will be best remembered as the man who told Donald Trump “No” at the right time. Without his courage, Trump may be running for a third term in the White House, not a second. For his efforts, Pence became an outcast in the Republican party. His brief run for president has already been forgotten. Until last week, I had not seen Pence in the news for months.
Does Pence deserve a chapter in a modern version of John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage? No.
Last week, Mike Pence announced that he would not endorse Donald Trump. The announcement was a surprise, even though Pence almost lost his life to Trump supporters on January 6, 2021. Dozens of other Republicans who, like Pence, believed that Trump lost the 2020 election and were appalled at the army of thugs carrying Trump banners rampage at the Capitol have endorsed Trump. Among the endorsers are Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio.
The absence of George W. or Jeb Bush from the list makes me feel better about both of them, even though their distaste for Trump may have more to do with how Trump treated “Low energy” Jeb in 2016 than January 6. I also think Ronald Reagan would have spoken out against Trump if he were still with us. But maybe he would not. Reagan was a second-tier actor when he entered politics. He paved the way for Trump’s entry into politics in multiple ways. Remember Reagan telling us, “Government is the problem?”
When I learned that Mike Pence was not endorsing Trump, I felt sympathy for him. The announcement is tantamount to a resignation from today’s Republican party. Pence will never again hold elective office, and Trump will shun him should the ex-president win the election this November.
When I read Pence’s announcement, I noticed something. After writing, “It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence arguably endorsed him by writing: “I am incredibly proud of the record of our administration.”
In his announcement, Pence also noted, “I made it clear there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues. And not just our differences on our constitutional duties that I exercised on January 6.” Somehow, those words do not ring true to me. Absent January 6, I think Pence would have found a way, like McConnell, to put party ahead of principle.
And what differences are troubling Pence? The former VP would like to see more abortion restrictions, curiously argues that Trump’s plans to address the national debt are inadequate, and would like to see TikTok banned. (Pence is troubled that Trump now opposes banning TikTok despite its Chinese ownership.)
So Pence is saying he is proud of the first chaotic, racist, and dysfunctional Trump administration–four years that started with Trump lying about the size of his inauguration crowd on January 20, 2017, and ended with the Big Lie, a lie that Trump still repeats.
Pence did not say anything about Trump’s plans to seek retribution against his political enemies; his plans to jail or institutionalize (mental institutions) his prosecutors and various federal and state judges; and to build detention camps to hold undocumented migrants. Pence has also said nothing about Trump’s temperament and declining mental state. Pence also has taken the position that. as a former president, Trump should not have been indicted. Pence commented, “I would just hope there would be a way for them to move forward without the dramatic and drastic and divisive step of indicting a former president of the United States. We have to find a way to move our country forward and restore confidence in equal treatment under the law in this country. We really do.”
So, Pence does not think Trump should have been indicted for the Mar-a-Lago documents or the election interference and argued that not indicting Trump would be a way to restore confidence in equal treatment under the law? Give me a break.
Let us thank Mike Pence for what he did in January 2021 and send him on his way into history. He earned my thanks by thwarting Trump in 2021, but as some said when he was running for President, he is Trump without the baggage.
J.E. Dean is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, and all too infrequently, other subjects.
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