Archive for the ‘Mike Pence’ Category

Will it soon be Donald Trump vs. Mike Pence? – Chicago Tribune

Not by accident did President Donald Trump bring up Hillary Clinton's name multiple times at his mind-numbing news conference. Trump has been in office four weeks. He won the election 3 1/2 months ago. Nevertheless, his still feels compelled to bring up his former opponent.

"We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country," he said. "You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, and other things. Like, lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things. Nobody talks about that."

He's unintelligible and wrong, but his supporters hear: Hillary Clinton gave away uranium. (By the way, during her tenure at State, a sale of a Canadian company with mines in the United States was approved. The sale was to Russian oligarchs. Yes, it's bad to give Russians a strategic boost, Mr. President.)

Again bringing up Clinton, Trump said at one point, "Hillary Clinton did a reset, remember? With the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch of jerks. Here, take a look. He looked at her like, 'What the hell is she doing with that cheap plastic button?' Hillary Clinton. That was the reset. Remember it said 'Reset'? Now if I do that oh, I'm a bad guy."

Huh? He does want to do a sort of reset, in fact. The critique makes little sense other than as a critique of her prop, but again he in effect tells his base: Clinton was bad, the worst ever.

His Clinton obsession may be traceable to his popular vote loss, which still gnaws at him. More specifically, he knows a large number of voters chose him only because they thought Clinton was worse. Of the 25 percent of the electorate who voted for one candidate because the other was worse, Trump won 50 percent, Clinton only 39 percent. She won pluralities of voters who either strongly favored or had reservations about the candidate they chose. Surely 78,000 people in three states, enough to swing the electoral college to Clinton, voted for Trump because they thought Clinton was worse. His victory depended on voters afflicted with Hillary Derangement Syndrome. Now he must remind voters why they pulled the lever for him.

Trump, like most demagogues, needs an enemy the elites, the press, Clinton. If he had to survive on his own merits and accomplishments, he'd flop. Press or Trump? Clinton or Trump? It's all a tactic to keep his own popularity high, or as high as it can be.

Alas, the technique has not really paid off since people tend to judge presidents in office on what they do in office. Trump's historically horrendous approval numbers (38 approve, 56 disapprove in Gallup; Pew had a nearly identical split, 39/56.) As Trump's performance sends more voters, and lawmakers, reeling and the investigation of his and his aides' ties to Russia get underway, we should remember how critical Vice President Mike Pence becomes. If things get really bad impeachment or some 25th Amendment "solution" the choice will not be Trump vs. Clinton. It will be Trump vs. Pence, who'd take over if Trump left or was removed. Uh-oh. Pence is in positive territory (43/39 in the Pollster.com average), and among Republicans, especially those on Capitol Hill, he's exceptionally popular.

If you gave 52 GOP senators a secret ballot and asked if they would prefer Pence or Trump, would Trump get more than a handful of votes? I doubt it. And that, if the facts get dicey and Trump's behavior gets wackier, will be a big problem for Trump. Democrats, as much as they dislike Pence's conservative ideology, would no doubt jump for joy if they got Pence instead of Trump. Republicans would rejoice at the prospect of a "normal' president who might help accomplish their aims.

In other words, if down the road the president continues to unravel, there may be a very big bipartisan consensus to show Trump the door. It's not like they'd be getting Clinton; they'd be getting the not erratic, not flashy, not crazy Mike Pence.

We are along way from any of that, but Trump's barking up the wrong tree if he thinks the ghost of Hillary Clinton will keep his approval rating high. The American people have moved on from the election. Now the question is whether at some point they'll move beyond him into Pence's waiting arms.

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.

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Will it soon be Donald Trump vs. Mike Pence? - Chicago Tribune

HR McMaster, Mike Pence, Vitaly Churkin: Your Tuesday Briefing – New York Times


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HR McMaster, Mike Pence, Vitaly Churkin: Your Tuesday Briefing
New York Times
Vice President Mike Pence was in Brussels on Monday, and he tried to reassure the European Union of American support. Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, died in Texas at age 69. The landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that ...
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HR McMaster, Mike Pence, Vitaly Churkin: Your Tuesday Briefing - New York Times

VP Mike Pence offers a curious take on Russia scandal developments – MSNBC


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VP Mike Pence offers a curious take on Russia scandal developments
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Asked why he fired Michael Flynn, the former White House National Security Advisor, Donald Trump told reporters last week Flynn was doing great work, but he didn't tell the Vice President of the United States the facts. The president added, I fired ...

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VP Mike Pence offers a curious take on Russia scandal developments - MSNBC

Pence has clout in Trump White House, but for how long? – Charlotte Observer


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Pence has clout in Trump White House, but for how long?
Charlotte Observer
Vice President Mike Pence, far right, administers the oath of office to newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Feb. 13, 2017. Mnuchin was accompanied by his fiance, Scottish actress Louise Linton. President Trump made remarks before the ...
Mike Pence deserves better than treatment he is getting from TrumpThe Herald-Times (subscription)

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Pence has clout in Trump White House, but for how long? - Charlotte Observer

Mike Pence tells European press corps not to worry about American journalism – Washington Examiner

Barack Obama and Mike Pence had very different EuroTrips. The first time he visited, the Democratic president enjoyed a celebrity's welcome. The Republican vice president, however, was greeted with suspicion and misgivings by the European press.

A few days after President Trump called the media "the enemy of the American people," Pence was asked to affirm the administration's support for a "free and independent press." And he did without hesitation. But Pence reserved the right to go straight to the people "when the media gets it wrong."

Of course, that brief back-and-forth includes some hypocrisy on the administration's part. More importantly, though, it shows that Pence understands that the American institution is more resilient than the continental press corps believes.

Maybe America didn't invent the free press, but we certainly made it great. Recognizing it was critical to the health of the republic, the founders enshrined media freedom in the Constitution. Since then, new and traditional journalism has humbled and deposed American presidents. But not once in those 230 years was the free press free from criticism.

In fact, Trump isn't original, as ABC's Jonathan Karl points out. While President Jefferson didn't brand news fake, the wordsmith of the Declaration wasn't above calling out the press. Writing to journalist John Norvell in 1807, the third president didn't pull any punches and declared that "nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper."

This sentiment didn't make Jefferson a power-hungry demagogue. It solidified his reputation as a critic. Unlike the European press corps, Jefferson recognized that it's possible to criticize the journalism industry while respecting the underlying 1st Amendment principle. Clearly, Trump has surpassed Jefferson's condemnation of the press by leaps and bounds. That doesn't make him a threat, though.

So far the Trump war against journalism has fizzled. The assaults on the press have consisted of name calling and the spread of false claims that easily explode after the quickest of Google searches. After Obama threw journalists in jail and tapped the AP's phones, Trump shouldn't be much of a challenge.

European muckrakers aren't much concerned with the wellbeing of their American counterparts, though. It's difficult to remember when they lectured a head of state on the importance of a free press. A more likely explanation is that like everyone else, they just don't like Trump.

But they can rest assured that the American free press will do just fine. Despite some of the recent mainstream tears, thanks to the First Amendment, journalists will continue to file and fact check no matter what during the next four years.

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Mike Pence tells European press corps not to worry about American journalism - Washington Examiner