People often accuse politicians of ignoring reality. Former Vice President Mike Pence took that willful ignorance to an extreme in trying to circumnavigate a very clear question posted by CNN’s Dana Bash. Put on the spot, Pence just pretended Donald Trump wasn’t a problem.
Given that Trump, his former running mate, is way out in front according to every poll, Bash was struck by Pence’s statement that he’d support the eventual nominee. [Note: there are some who think Trump could win the GOP nomination even from a jail cell.]
Will Pence support Trump then, if every poll is right and he wins, Bash asked? Even after Pence said that Trump, as President, failed to uphold his oath to the Constitution? “I’m confident [Trump] won’t be the nominee,” Pence replied.
Bash: You just spent a lot of time both here and earlier today explaining why you think that the former president did not uphold his oath to the constitution. So, then how can you say that you would support him if he's the nominee? pic.twitter.com/j8RxEqyX2q
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 8, 2023
[Note: Confidence is exactly what con men deliver, to revisit the phrase.]
Bash also hit Pence on guns and his plan to clean up the “inner cities,” often used as GOP code for disenfranchised citizens.
Pence looked defeated as Bash informed him that, according to ATF, more than half of guns responsible for violence in Chicago in 2021 came from Indiana, Pence’s home state.
“I just want to say, because I've heard other people talk about Chicago, just for the record, the ATF data shows that more than half of the recovered guns used to commit crimes in Illinois in 2021, do you know where they came from? Indiana” pic.twitter.com/sJzmJUs85l
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 8, 2023
Pence getting slaughtered on his big opening night by a journalist who isn’t even hitting hard must have made fellow GOP candidate Chris Christie‘s mouth water. The pugilistic former New Jersey governor has been hammering the front runner Trump, and hardly acknowledging the rest of the field.
Christie isn’t so naive as to think Trump has no chance at the nomination and acknowledges his enormous lead. Christie has a rule for how to compete for the nomination, a rule so sensible that it’s astonishing Pence ignores it.
The rule of engagement is: “Anyone who thinks they can win this thing by going around Trump is a fool. You can only win by going straight at him and through him.”
Anyone who thinks they can win this thing by going around Trump is a fool. You can only win by going straight at him and through him.
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) June 7, 2023
Join us: https://t.co/15ZXLOZjYh pic.twitter.com/eftn5JXcdh
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