That all changed with the Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Pence and other Trump spokespeople went out to spread the narrative that Trump had acted on the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to fire Comey because of his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Pence's mission was to convey that message to
The problem was the Trump-Comey talking points were not true. Journalists began digging and found that the Comey firing was because of every increasing Trumpian furor over the continued Russian investigation led by Comey. Indeed, Comey had just requested it be expanded, with additional financial and personnel resources devoted to the investigation. The Rosenstein memo turned out to be after-the-fact cover for the decision.
The problem for Pence is that he was in the meeting during which Trump announced his plan to fire Comey, a meeting at which Trump requested Rosenstein write a memo to offer a false motive for his action. So when Pence was on Capitol Hill he was knowingly offering a lie about how President Trump arrived at his decision. The White House has since admitted the original tale spun by the Trump spokespeople, including Pence, wasn't true.
Pence's loss of credibility is a most unfortunate development. I would rate the odds better than 50-50 he will be President before the official end of Trump's term and that he will lead the Republican ticket in 2020. His being damaged by his actions as Vice President further hurt GOP efforts to keep control of the White House and the Senate.
As far as the U.S. House, that most likely be won by the Democrats in 2018. A Quinnipiac poll released yesterday showed that Americans by a 54-38 margin Americans want Democrats to win control of the U.S. House in 2018. That 16 point spread is by far the widest margin ever measured on that question.
Pence long ago betrayed the GOP. May his public life end in disgrace
ReplyDeletePence had a good reputation? When?
ReplyDeletePence no longer has any credibility; after all this "Christian, Conservative and Republican, in that order" lost it all when he agreed to be Trump's running mate, who is none of those three tings. The fact that Pence was in the meeting with Trump re Comey's firing only confirms that he knew the real reason for the firing, and deliberately lied. Just like, as head of the Trump transition, he had to know the radioactive nature of the loose canon Michael Flynn -- even before he was lied to be Flynn. It's a sad spectacle indeed....
ReplyDeleteNothing says I'm a Christian like taking health care away from poor, sick, old people and give a huge tax break to the wealthy. Pence will burn in Hell.
ReplyDeleteYour worship of Mike Pence is sickening
ReplyDeleteAll of this polarization is only going to lead to further censorship and further removals of free speech. I for one am not a fan of this militant leftist ideology of silencing opponents. It's inherently totalitarian and doesn't allow room for dissidence o
ReplyDelete