For Republicans, There Is No Alternative To Señor T

Mike Pence Is Dead To Them... And DeSantis Soon Will Be Too

The Reuters headline is weird: Mike Pence does not rule out being witness for Trump's prosecution. But unless he wants to go to prison for Trump— and he doesn’t— it isn’t up to Mike Pence. He’s going to be a witness in the criminal trial against Trump. Margaret Brennan asked the wrong question yesterday and Pence’s answer— that he had no plans to testify— was the wrong answer. It’s up to Jack Smith, not Mike Pence. Pence knows that and he got it right when he added “But people can be confident we'll obey the law, we'll respond to the call of law, if it comes, and we'll just tell the truth.”

And that’s exactly what Trump fears— and why he

• Posted: “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”

• Posted: “WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I can along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side. I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest.’ He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy. I once read a major magazine article on Mike. It said he was not a very good person. I was surprised, but the article was right. Sad!

The latest polling, by the way, was from Ipsos for Reuters late last week and it shows Pence doing better than 2%.

• Señor T- 47%

• DeSantis- 13%

• Pence- 8%

• Ramaswamy- 7%

• Nikki Haley- 5%

• Tim Scott- 2%

• Youngkin- 1%

• Așa Hutchinson- 1%

• Chris Christie- 0%

• Liz Cheney- 0%

• Doug Burgum- 0%

• Will Hurd- 0%

• Francis Suarez- 0%

If you missed Pence’s appearance with Major Garrett on Face The Nation yesterday, it’s worth reading the transcript, part of which is below:

Pence: Look, President Trump was wrong. He was wrong then. He's wrong now. I had no right to overturn the election. And more and more Americans are coming up to me every day and recognizing that, and for my part, I'm running for president in part because, frankly, President Trump asked me to put him over the Constitution that day, but I chose the Constitution and I always will.

Garrett: So I want to ask you about characterizations that have been made by those who speak on behalf of the president's legal team. They've said this week that all they asked of you, that is to say the president, was to delay the proceedings to allow states to conduct an audit. Is that a truthful representation of what you were asked to do, Mr. Vice President?

Pence: Major, that's not what happened. And, you know, as I wrote about in my book, as I've spoken about very openly, and frankly, as is recounted in aspects of the pleadings that were filed this week. From sometime in the middle of December, the president began to be told that I had some authority to reject or return votes back to the states. I had no such authority. No vice president in American history had ever asserted that authority and no one ever should. Your viewers can go to Article II of the Constitution and see that it's very clear. It says that the vice president, as president of the Senate, should preside over the House and Senate in a joint session, and that the Electoral College votes shall be opened and shall be counted. There was no discretion ever given to the vice president in history, nor should there ever be. I had no right to overturn the election and Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024. But look, I stand by the facts as they occurred. I mean, it ebbed and flowed between different legal theories, but at the end of the day, I know we did our duty. I know we kept our oath. But I truly do believe that, you know, no one who ever puts himself over the Constitution should ever be president of the United States. I mean, our Constitution is more important than any one man and our country is more important than any one man's career…

Garrett: It is a matter of public interest, though, Mr. Vice President, if this case comes to trial, would you be a witness against the president?

Pence: Well, I will tell you, you know, I didn't want anything to do with the January 6 committee. That was a partisan committee on Capitol Hill, Major. And it seemed to me to be just politics, from the very start, particularly when Nancy Pelosi dismissed, you know, members of Congress that Speaker McCarthy wanted on the committee. And frankly, you know, I was one of the first people to denounce that indictment in Manhattan and to denounce the raid on the president's home, but in this case, we've stood firmly for the rule of law. You know, I took a stand, we challenged in court the scope of any testimony that I could provide, because as president of the Senate, the Constitution provides me with the protections that are afforded to members of Congress. We won that at the lower court level and, and ultimately, we responded to a subpoena, and I have no plans to testify, but people can be confident we'll obey the law. We'll respond to the call of the law, if it comes and we'll just tell the truth. Look, I've been telling this story over the last two years. But I must tell you over the last week, it seems that more and more Americans have been coming up to me and just expressing a word of appreciation, for what by God's grace that we did that day. You know, I took that oath in January of 2021. To-- excuse me, January 2017-- to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I made that promise to the American people and to Almighty God, and by His grace, and with their support, we kept that oath every single day, including through that day and we'll continue to tell that story everywhere we go.

Garrett: To be clear, Mr. Vice President, you do not regard this indictment as the political persecution of the former president?

Pence: Well, I've been very concerned about politicization at the Justice Department for years, Major. Look, I lived through the Russia hoax. I mean, I had to deal with the Mueller investigation. I incurred more than $500,000 in legal fees responding to that investigation. I watched the Democrats impeach the president for a phone call. And then, and then I've been deeply troubled to see the double standard between, you know, the way that the Justice Department has gone after the president, responded even in-- with other Republicans and pro-life Americans and the way they seem to be-- to take no interest in getting to the bottom of allegations of corruption around President Biden's family. So I have deep concern about that. But look, I don't want to prejudge this indictment. I don't know whether the government has the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to support this case. The president is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but my concern about politicization at the Justice Department is the reason why I tell people everywhere I go, if I'm the next president of the United States, we're going to clean house at the Justice Department. We're going to appoint men and women at the highest levels in the Justice Department in this country that will restore the confidence of the American people in equal treatment under the law.

With DeSantis’ campaign falling apart and with his so-called “re-set” leaving everyone scratching their heads, he may soon be heading back to Tallahassee to endorse Trump, lick his wounds and start preparing for 2028. This pretty much sums it up: “Several aides believe the Republican candidate’s bid lacks a coherent strategy and message, according to people familiar with the campaign. The operation is disorganized, with different teams pursuing their own agendas, and little communication between groups.” Even his biggest donor, Robert Bigelow ($20 million) is about to bow out (unless DeSantis abandons the fascism). If that happens— the back to Tallahassee scenario, not the fascism abandonment scenario— who will be the not-Trump in the race? Pence? The MAGAts will never accept him as anything but a foil for Trump who needs— now more than ever— to be hung. So who? On Saturday, Declan Leary knew who else it would never be: It’s not Tim Scott.

Whatever the Republican Party and the country need right now— a break from the populist revival of the Trump years or a continuation of the theme, a pragmatic administrator or another visionary, another disruptor or a steady hand— the Palmetto State senator is not the man.

Yet the donor class seems to think so. After a chaotic and mostly embarrassing few weeks, it seems safe to say that Ron DeSantis is about to crash and burn. The Florida governor has effectively admitted that he needs a complete and total reset, although he has not yet accepted the fact that a complete and total reset is impossible in political campaigns. He is finished; it is just a question of when he figures that out.

Most people won’t wait for that to happen. As reported widely this week, many of the GOP’s big-money power-players are rushing out of the DeSantis camp. Every dollar spent on Ron from this day forward is a dollar wasted.

Scott may not be the most obvious alternative. Mike Pence has much higher name recognition and much stronger non-Trump bona fides. Nikki Haley is a woman. They were not chosen. Whatever calculus led the money men to Scott over the others, cash is flowing in and out of his campaign at an almost breakneck pace. He has more ad time booked right now— over $3 million worth— than any other candidate in the race.

…As far as I can tell, the only serious person on the national stage who has shown himself capable of filling that role is none other than Donald Trump. I may be wrong; it may be someone else. But I know it’s not Tim Scott.

Yep… that’s all they got: Donald J. Trumpanzee. And that’s exactly what they deserve. And then Trumpanzee Jr or Javanka after him.