Pence Calls Trump ‘wrong’ & ‘unAmerican’ - and says it’s time to move on

This afternoon, former vice president Mike Pence addressed the Federalist Society. He came down clearly on the side of those Republicans who wish to move on from the debacle of a vindictive, sociopathic conman relitigating an election he lost over a year ago. An election certified by numerous Republican officials - and fruitlessly challenged in many courts.

Pence lays 2024 groundwork in front of the Federalist Society

Pence has been firm in his position from the beginning. In a letter to Congress, sent the morning of the Capitol attack, he wrote that,

“The Constitution “constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.”

Today, Pence again stated his position. But this time, he made it clear who was at fault. In plain language, he said Trump was in error to claim the Vice President had the constitutional authority to ignore the will of the people and the vote of the Electoral College.

“I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.”

Note his choice of language. He could have said ‘Trump received bad advice,’ or that he ‘misunderstood the extent of the Vice President’s authority.’ But he did not. He called the man who will never admit to a fault just plain ‘wrong’.

And then he called Trump unpatriotic.

“The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.”

Delicious.

It was not his only shot across his erstwhile boss’s bow. He demanded the time had come for the GOP to cease salving a monumentally damaged ego and stop living in a fabulist past. At one point, he said,

“Whatever the future holds, I know we did our duty that day. I believe the time has come to focus on the future.”

And, just in case people hadn’t been paying attention, he added,

“The truth is there’s more at stake than our party or our political fortunes. If we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections — we’ll lose our country.”

Again, the choice of language is instructive. Conservatives are always going on about ‘getting our country back.’ And the message is that it is liberals who have taken it away. But here, Pence unmistakably states it is MAGAs who risk losing the country for Republicans.

Pence also contributed more than just words in rejecting Trumpian revisionism. Two of Pence’s aides testified privately before the J6 committee this week. And Pence’s lawyer and the panel have been talking informally about whether the former vice president would be willing to speak to investigators.

Pence is a politician. So his words and actions have to be considered through the prism of a potential 2024 run. And it would certainly help his cause if Trump was in no position to be part of that equation. But if one man’s ambition brings about a result dearly desired by many others, then I say let’s celebrate it. You go, Mike!

Trump’s baleful influence on the Republican party has become so damaging that Pence, once regarded as a fundamentalist, far-right religious nutter, is now getting kudos for being the voice of reason. He was picked for the VP slot because political calculation believed he was necessary to shore up Trump’s potential weakness among conservative evangelicals. No one at the time realized that Trump would become like crack cocaine to religious hypocrites — and that these irredeemable bigots were willing to follow the Orange Piper wherever he led. Regardless, Pence was a useful conduit to Congress. He offered stolidity. And besides, he was a white guy, so no Republican was going to object to him.

At this point, when you look at the potential candidates jockeying for the 2024 contest - DeSantis, Cruz, Rubio, Cotton, Hawley, and God only knows what other bottom dwellers - Pence, at least in contrast, seems almost reasonable. Regardless, whoever represents the GOP in the next presidential election would be a disaster for the country if they should be elected. So gear up, Democrats. And bring your A-game.