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Vice President Pence and his wife, Karen, arrive for a State Dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and President Trump at the White House on April 24. (AP)

Until Tuesday, it seemed that Vice President Pence had one primary function within the Trump administration: tobe morally offended by everything. There was the time that he walked out of an NFL game because some playerstook a knee while the national anthem was played.

This is not the only time Pence has walked out on an event. Last month the vice president walked out of the Summit of the Americas when Cubas foreign minister was recognized to speak after him, according to the Associated Press.

Pence has demonstrated his ability to registerhis moral disapproval even when he does not leave an event. This was the case at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics, when he refused to stand as the unified Korean team entered the stadium.

It was not his best soft power moment, but Pences defenders would argue that being rude to dignitaries from North Korea and Cuba just shows how righteous he really is. Pence himself would likely respond withhis patented sorrowful head shake. Hisbrand is as a man of serious moral values who can serve as Trumps envoy to people of faith. McKay Coppins got at this in his recent Atlantic profile of Pence:

He says he has just hung up the phone with Donald Trump and that the president asked him to say hello. He delivers this message with a slight chuckle that has a certain, almost subversive quality to it. Watch Pence give enough speeches, and youll notice that this often happens when hes in front of a friendly crowd. Hell be witnessing to evangelicals at a mega-church, or addressing conservative supporters at a rally, and when the moment comes for him to pass along the presidents well-wishes, the words are invariably accompanied by an amused little chuckle that prompts knowing laughter from the attendees. Its almost as if, in that brief, barely perceptible moment, Pence is sending a message to those with ears to hear that he recognizes the absurdity of his situation; that he knows just what sort of man hes working for; that while things may look bad now, there is a grand purpose at work here, a plan that will manifest itself in due time.Let not your hearts be troubled, he seems to be saying.Ive got this.

Pences presence in the White House has been a boon for the religious right. Evangelical leaders across the country point to his record on abortion and religious freedom and liken him to a prophet restoring conservative Christianity to its rightful place at the center of American life. Mike Pence is the 24-karat-gold model of what we want in an evangelical politician, Richard Land, the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary and one of Trumps faith advisers, told me. I dont know anyone whos more consistent in bringing his evangelical-Christian worldview to public policy.

So it is worth noting what Pence, the Trump administrations righteous man, did in Arizona on Tuesday. According to the Hills Jacqueline Thomsen:

Vice President Pence praised former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court, as a tireless champion of the rule of law during an event in Arizona on Tuesday.

Pence said at the tax event that he was honored by the former sheriffs attendance, andcalled Arpaio a great friend of this president and tireless champion of strong borders and the rule of law, to cheers from the crowd.

Heres some video:

Needless to say, most observers do not view Joe Arpaio as a real big fan of the rule of law. Indeed, Arpaio probably would have fit right into either the Cuban or North Korean regimes. Read this PostEverything essay by Francisco Chairez, whowas incarcerated in one of Arpaios tent jails.

It is not just Arpaios victims who feel moral outage. The National Review editorialized in January:

Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt last summer for willfully violating a federal court order. Specifically, he was convicted of violating an order that he cease arresting and detaining peoplefor whom there was no plausible criminal charge i.e., the court asked him, pretty please, to stop detaining Mexicans for publicity purposes. Arpaio says he was arresting illegal immigrants, and he may well have been, but it is not a criminal offense simply to be illegally present in the United States. (That is a civil matter.) Until such a time as Congress passes a law making such presence a crime (and delegates enforcement of that federal statute to the sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.), arresting people under color of law for that non-crime isnt law enforcement its lawlessness.

But Sheriff Joe has a thing for arresting people who havent committed any crime. He arrested a Republican critic the county supervisor on trumped-up charges in 2008 and ended up handing over $3.5 million of taxpayers money in a wrongful-arrest settlement. He tried to bully the mayor of Phoenix in much the same way, demanding phone logs and other records as part of a nonsensical investigation designed to silence a critic. In another spectacular abuse of power, Arpaio teamed up with a friendly county attorney and filed a federal lawsuit seeking the federal prosecution of several judges and lawyers his political enemies under the RICO organized-crime statute. Arpaio, being Arpaio, held a press conference announcing the investigation, which the federal courts immediately threw out as patently frivolous. Millions more taxpayers dollars were paid out in settlements.

Red States Sarah Quinlan offers up a detailed list of Arpaios abuses of the rule of law while he was the former sheriff, concluding: Nothing about Sheriff Joe Arpaio resembles any sort of justice or law and order under the United States Constitution, and it is disgraceful for Pence to pretend otherwise.

Note who Im quoting here.These are conservative outlets one would expect to be in lockstep with a good Christian conservative like Pence. But they are appalled and they are not theonlyconservatives to react this way. In these politically polarized times, Mike Pence has managed to appall just about everyone across the political spectrum. That takes some doing.

Calling Arpaio a tireless champion of the rule of law is like calling Donald Trump a beacon of moral rectitudeand, oh, now I get how Pence can do this. As Kellyanne Conway told Coppins, Mike Pence is someone whose faith allows him to subvert his ego to the greater good. In this case the greater good appears to be the political absolution of Arpaio, who Trump pardoned and is now running for the U.S. Senate.

I have little insight into why Pence did this, and to be honest I do not care. All I know is that the number of officials in the Trump administration who can claim to have preserved their moral bearings in this administration keeps shrinking by the day.

It is possible thatthe vice president reads this and cancels his Washington Post subscription in a fake moral outrage. It would be on brand for him.It would not change the fact thathe has sullied his standing with this act of moral appeasement.

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Mike Pences peculiar sense of morality - The Washington Post

There will be plenty of guns at the National Rifle Convention in Dallas this week, but one room will be completely free of weapons.

The NRA announced gun owners, even those legally allowed to carry them, will not be allowed to carry guns or knives during Vice President Mike Pence's address Friday at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Arena.

"Due to the attendance of the Vice President of the United States, the U.S. Secret Service will be responsible for event security at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum," the NRA's statement to attendees reads. "As a result, firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind will be prohibited in the forum prior to and during his attendance."

In fact, everything from selfie sticks to laser pointers and toy guns will be banned from the arena during Friday's keynote address.

The NRA also notes there will be no storage available for firearms.

Texas has more registered firearms than any other state, according to the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The agency's 2017 report shows there are 588,696 guns in the state. Texas also leads the country by a wide margin in number of licensed dealers, with 771, according to the ATF report from April 2017. Only one other state (Florida, 402) has more than 250 gun dealers.

Other politicians speaking before Pence include Rep. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

"It's an honor to have Vice President Pence address our members in Dallas," Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA-ILA, said in a statement. "He is a lifetime supporter of the Second Amendment and he has a long a record of fighting to defend our freedoms. Now more than ever we need principled people in public office who will fight to defend the Constitution."

Pence was given an "A" rating by the NRA in 2003 while he was governor of Indiana. He was not one of the politicians rated on the NRA's most-recent grades in 2010. Cornyn was also given an "A" in the same 2003 grades.

In Pence's final State of the State address as Indiana governor in January 2016, seven months before he was named Donald Trump's running mate, he said, "Hoosiers know firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens ... makes our communities more safe, not less safe. Indiana will always defend the right to keep and bear arms."

The NRA's Annual Meeting in Dallas begins May 3.

See more here:
Guns banned from NRA event during Mike Pence address

Please buy it for your children, buy it for any child you know or buy it because you know it would annoy Mike Pence, Mr. Oliver told his viewers. Parody aside, he assured them, This is a real book for children.

And buy it they have. By Tuesday the book, which beat Ms. Pences to Amazon by two days, had risen to the No. 1 spot on the websites best-seller list, knocking pre-ordered copies of the upcoming memoir by James Comey down to No. 2.

Ms. Pences book on Marlon Bundo had reached No. 4 on the list by late afternoon.

Mr. Comeys book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, has been highly anticipated for potential insights it could provide into the tumultuous Trump White House and Mr. Comeys abrupt dismissal as director of the F.B.I. last year.

Dueling tweets over the weekend between President Trump and Mr. Comey appeared to have propelled enough advance orders to lift Mr. Comeys memoir to the top spot. The memoir, scheduled to be released on April 17, has been advertised as a frank account of Mr. Comeys never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career.

Mr. Olivers book is very different than that.

In it, Marlon Bundo, a snappily dressed bunny with a penchant for bright bow ties, falls in love with a bespectacled boy bunny named Wesley. Things seem to be going pretty well for the two lovebirds (love bunnies?) until a powerful stinkbug who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Pence decrees that male bunnies cannot marry each other.

In the grand tradition of childrens literature, the story ends on a happy note. An image released by the books publisher, Chronicle Books, shows Marlon Bundo and Wesley standing in a field, wearing tuxedos, as a cat in clerical garb marries them.

The tale also comes in the form of an audiobook voiced by a string of celebrities including Jim Parsons as Marlon Bundo and John Lithgow as the stinkbug, as well as Ellie Kemper, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and RuPaul. On Tuesday, it also beat Mr. Comeys audiobook to be the No. 1 best-seller on Audible.

Mr. Oliver played clips from a cartoon version of the audiobook on his show on Sunday. In it, Marlon Bundo introduces himself to Wesley as BOTUS.

Its short for Bunny of the United States, he says, with typical first-date awkwardness. Its a long story.

Ms. Pences book is more sober childrens fare. It is not known if it identifies Marlon Bundos sexual orientation at all.

Charlotte Pence seemed to take the John Oliver parody in stride. His book is contributing to charities that I think we can all get behind, she said in an interview with Fox Business Network on Tuesday. We have two books giving to charities that are about bunnies, so Im all for it really.

Some of the proceeds from her book will be donated to A21, an organization that fights human trafficking. Mr. Oliver said all of his books profits would be donated to The Trevor Project, a charity for L.G.B.T. youth, and AIDS United.

That was a pointed jab at Mr. Pence, who is a longtime opponent of L.G.B.T. rights, which he opposed as both governor of Indiana and a member of Congress.

Last year, Mr. Pence described James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, which teaches that people can vanquish same-sex attraction if they cooperate with God in the process of becoming more like Jesus, as a friend and a mentor.

Mr. Pence has also long been dogged by claims that he supports anti-gay conversion therapy due in part to language contained on the website of his 2000 campaign for Congress. A spokesman for Mr. Pence said in 2016 that he does not support the practice, which has been denounced by the medical community.

The success of Mr. Olivers book marks the second time in recent months that criticism of Mr. Pences record on L.G.B.T. rights has turned into a pop culture moment.

In January, the figure skater Adam Rippon, the first openly gay American man to qualify to compete in the Winter Games, attracted wide media attention and became an overnight gay icon when he denounced Mr. Pences gay rights record and refused to meet with him during the Games. The vice presidents staff said Mr. Rippon had misrepresented Mr. Pences views.

More here:
Childrens Book About Mike Pences Gay Bunny Jumps to No ...

John Oliver's attempt to troll Vice President Mike Pence was as successful as he could have hoped.

Less than 24 hours after the "Last Week Tonight" host announced that he'd published a children's book about Pence's pet rabbit, Marlon Bundo, to compete with one issued by the politician's family, the parody tome Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo" soared to the top of Amazon's sales list.

Meanwhile, Marlon Bundos Day in the Life of the Vice President," a book written by Pence's daughter Charlotte and illustrated by his wife Karen, had reached No. 5 on the sales chart as of Monday evening.

On Sunday night's show, Oliver delved into Pence's fraught relationship with the LGBTQ community. Pence has been an outspoken critic of gay marriage, opposed the repeal of Dont Ask, Dont Tell, and as the governor of Indiana, signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which critics claimed would allow businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. He later signed into law an additional measure that clarified no person could be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

So it was only appropriate that all proceeds from the sales of Oliver's parody book would benefit AIDS United and The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth. He also revealed that actors Jim Parsons, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jeff Garland, Ellie Kemper, John Lithgow, Jack McBrayer and RuPaul lent their voices to the audio version.

"This is a sweet story about Marlon Bundo falling in love," Oliver said. "This isn't some adult book telling Mike Pence to go f--- himself, although in buying it, that's exactly what you would be doing."

A spokesperson for Regnery Publishing, the conservative publisher behind the Pences' book, told CNN that the spoof was "unfortunate."

The representative's statement read: "It's unfortunate that anyone would feel the need to ridicule an educational children's book and turn it into something controversial and partisan. Our and Mrs. and Charlotte Pence's goal is -- and will continue to be -- to educate young readers about the important role of the vice president, as well as to highlight the charities to which portions of the book proceeds will be donated."

Originally posted here:
John Oliver trolls Mike Pence with a book about a gay ...

With a freewheeling address to the party faithful at Conservative Political Action Conference last month, President Donald Trump kicked off his involvement in the 2018 campaign season as if 2016 had never ended.

You don't mind if I go off script a little bit because, you know, it's sort of boring, Trump said, veering off his teleprompter and whipping up the crowd. Chants of lock her up! quickly ensued.

But as Trump heaves political red meat to rally his base for the midterms, hes leaning on Vice President Mike Pence to sweep into competitive districts to make the sell and raise some serious cash.

When Pence spoke from the same podium at CPAC, his measured and dogmatic address on the administrations policies was a study in contrasts with his boss, even as it stirred the crowd in a different way.

Multiple people close to the Trump political operation have described Pence as at the heart of its formula for 2018 voter engagement.

While President Trump plays the starring role as a one-man-band style closer, the vice president is being utilized as the tip of the spear, says Pences outside political adviser Marty Obst.

The vice president has set an aggressive campaigning calendar that has him on pace to participate in nearly 40 campaign events before the end of April to promote Republican candidates in House, Senate, and governors races, according to a Pence aide familiar with the plans.

Aggressive deployment of the vice president on the campaign trail this spring and summer is in part a nod to the uphill battle Republicans face in holding the House and Senate in November, several Pence advisers told ABC News.

The party in the White House has historically lost seats in the midterm elections, and in the most recent ABC/Washington Post poll, Democrats held a 12-point lead on Republicans in a generic ballot among registered voters.

Trump, his political team and Republican Party leaders decided during a Camp David retreat early this year to green-light Pence as their top surrogate, sources familiar with the meeting said.

The vice president plans to target his early campaign activity in reliably GOP districts but where the party isnt being overly confident, according to a political adviser to the vice president. After Labor Day, the expectation is that Pence will be a rapid response surrogate to help shore up support in tight races.

As the GOP tax cuts take hold and millions of American workers potentially start to see larger paychecks Pences top priority is to create a direct line to the president and Republican lawmakers, Pence communications director Jarrod Agen told ABC News.

The president's tax cuts are benefiting American workers across the nation and it was only achieved thanks to this Administration and Republican leadership in the House and Senate, Agen said.

Obst, Pences outside political adviser, said Pence is seen by the presidents political team as particularly well-suited to make the case because of his message discipline.

Hes known for incredible message discipline and nobody is able to reemphasize the talking points, the vision, the strategy, better than the vice president, Obst said. And so him coming into a district and articulating that message gives candidates the freedom to articulate that same message.

Even as Pence serves as one of President Trumps most loyal and ardent defenders, Obst says the vice president counsels candidates to stick to the tax reform-focused message and aggressively sidestep distractions and dramas coming from the West Wing on any given day.

Pence tells candidates to focus on the agenda, Obst said. Don't get sucked into fights that aren't yours, and don't get caught up in answering for every attack on the administration. Instead, focus on the successes of the administration and Congress, and the policies that are improving lives of the American people.

The administrations strategy is getting support from the Trump-allied advocacy group America First Policies, run by several of the presidents former advisers.

The group has organized a Tax Cuts to Put America First" tour across the country in tandem with the vice presidents campaign schedule. The group has already hosted four events in the tour first in Pennsylvania, then Texas, Michigan, and Iowa and the vice president has made appearances at each event, with more to come.

"We've extended an invitation to the Vice President to be our special guest at all events, and we are grateful he's been able to join us," says the group's communications director Erin Montgomery.

Democrats are preparing to counter Pence, arguing the realities of the economy for the middle class sharply contrast with the GOP messaging on tax cuts. They also dont appear intimidated by Pences involvement in key races.

It doesnt matter who the messenger is, its the GOPs agenda more expensive health care costs while corporate executives and big industries like pharmaceutical companies get a tax handout that is repulsive to voters across the country, said David Bergstein, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman.

Tyler Law with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the special election this month in Pennsylvanias 18th Congressional District is already highlighting flaws in the Republican pitch.

After abandoning their tax message in Pennsylvanias 18th district, House Republicans are clearly scrambling to find a message and a messenger, Law said. Its laughable to think that Mike Pence is the answer.

Pences advisers say his ability to raise money from the Republican grassroots is an indication his strategic appeal in the midterms goes beyond the message.

Since becoming vice president, Pence has raised nearly $20 million to benefit various campaign committees and GOP candidates, according to a political adviser to the vice president.

A key vehicle of the vice presidents fundraising activities this year is a first-of-its kind leadership PAC the Great America Committee -- registered to Pences name.

The leadership PAC was formed for two fundamental reasons: The first is to invest in candidates who supported the Trump agenda and are in competitive races, Obst said. The second is those investments literally put gas in the plane to travel the country campaign for candidates.

Since its creation last year, Pences leadership PAC has cut two rounds of checks: the first round went to max-out donations to President Trumps 2020 reelection campaign and the second round of checks to support 40 priority House and governors races across the country, each getting a $5,000 cash infusion.

In the long run, the PAC also offers Pence the opportunity to maintain relationships with donors that the administration will again want to call on again during the presidents 2020 reelection bid.

The vice presidents fundraising activity has spurred speculation about his own future political ambitions. But people close to the vice president dismiss suggestion he will seek the presidency in 2020, pointing to Pences deep loyalty to the president and the reality that the leadership PACs funds can only be applied to the campaigns of other candidates.

The bigger question I ask people when they ask why the leadership PAC was formed is, why hasn't anyone else [done one]? It's another tool in the tool kit to help candidates, Obst said.

The PAC also has the blessing of the Trump family, sources say. When the PAC held a summit at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC earlier this year raising half a million dollars over two days the presidents eldest son Don Trump Jr. even introduced Pence for his keynote speech, according to people close to the vice president.

Pences 2018 fundraising blitz also aims to maximize donations across all of the partys committees, including the RNC, NRCC and the NRSC, and individual candidates, his aides say. In the case of the RNC, an official said Pence has worked hand in hand with the committee to raise $4.5 million since last summer and is expected to bring in another $2 million through upcoming events.

When Pence was last in Pennsylvania to support Republican Rick Saccone ahead of the upcoming special election for an open US House seat, Pence hauled in a quarter of a million dollars for Saccone.

Republicans have had mixed results in off-year elections since Trump took power. In Alabama, Democrat Doug Jones pulled out a victory in the deeply red state against Republican Roy Moore, who had the backing of the White House, in the special election for Jeff Sessions US Senate seat.

Pence went all in to help elect Republican candidate Ed Gillsepie in Virginia governors race late last year, but Democrat Ralph Northam prevailed.

While some pundits have ominously forecast a coming Democratic wave, the vice president and his team shrug it all off.

I know that conventional wisdom holds that the upcoming midterms are going to be a challenge, right? Pence said in his remarks rallying Republicans at the GOP congressional retreat last month. But I think you all know what President Trump thinks about conventional wisdom.

The rest is here:
Vice President Mike Pence 'tip of the spear' in Trump 2018 ...