Former Vice President Mike Pence, 64, continued to get free publicity on liberal TV denouncing his former boss, answering inappropriate comments about Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Trump. Speaking on CBS “Face the Nation,” Pence refuted any idea pushed by Trump that he asked his former Vice President to stop the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral College vote certification. Trump said he asked Pence for a brief delay so his lawyers could properly vet the legitimacy of slates of state electors committed to President Joe Biden. “That’s not what happened,” Pence told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan. “From sometime in the middle of Decembers, the president began to be told that I had some authority to reject or return votes back to the states,” Pence said. “I had no such authority.” Democrats-controlled press wants Pence to admit Trump tampered with the election.
Democrats and the press think that Pence holds the key to Special Counsel Jack Smith getting a conviction for defrauding the U.S. government. Smith’s recent charges against Trump for defrauding the government and obstructing the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral College vote certification rely on testimony from Pence, someone who’s flipped against Trump. Pence says he’ll testify and tell the truth or at least his version of the truth. When it comes to stopping the Electoral College vote certification, Pence knew he had no authority other than certifying the vote. Smith claims that Trump tried to interfere with the orderly transfer of power by certifying the Electoral College vote. Trump knew that Pence had no authority to change or modify the Electoral College vote, other than rubber-stamping the outcome. What Trump wanted or what the law permitted doesn’t involve tampering with an election.
Democrats and the media do everything possible to help Smith’s case against Trump but they inadvertently damage the government’s case. Smith said himself that Trump is assured the presumption of innocence and his day in court bet\ore a jury of his peers. But how can Trump get a fair trial as long at the Democrat-controlled press pushes for conviction without any facts to back it up? When it comes to the so-called “Big Lie,” Trump insists that he was defrauded out of the election, smoothing Democrats the press refute. But no one has figured out how universal mail-in ballots affected the 2020 election outcomes. Democrats hold a registration advantage in sheer numbers compared to Republicans. So if more Democrats mail-in ballots were returned on Election Day, it would only make sense that Biden would win the election. Only problem, it’s impossible to verify the ballots.
Pence told Brennan that he had no discretion when it came to certifying the Electoral College vote. “There was no discretion ever give to the vice president in history, nor should there be,” Pence said. Beating a dead horse, only Democrats and the liberal press think if Pence testified that he had no authority to change anything that disputes Trump’s contentions. “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,” Pence said, sounding a defiant tone. Trump’s currently polling so poorly he may not qualify for the first Aug. 23 GOP debate. Trump simply can point out he was making a suggestion to Pence, not ordering him to act illegally. Yet to the Democrat-controlled press, it’s another “gotcha” moment, leaping to conclusions about Trump’s illegal activity. Democrats like using Pence to make their point.
Getting Pence to give his version on liberal TV, Democrats and the press hope to make Smith’s case against Trump, not realizing they’re robbing Trump of a fair trial or due process. Pence told Brennan that he jotted down some notes about his interaction with Trump about his role in certifying the Electoral College vote. “From time to time, particularly at important moments, I had a practice of scribbling a note or two on my calendar just to memorialize it and remember it and I did that I this case,” recalling that he told the president he had no Constitutional authority to intercede in the Electoral College vote. Pence takes the bait on liberal TV, knowing that it gives him stature before the 2024 primaries really begin. Pence’s apparent betrayal of his former relationship with Trump make him look disloyal to Trump’s base. Pence seeks any publicity to make him look like a viable candidate.
Listening to Pence on “Face the Nation,” he looks like a desperate candidate, polling near the bottom of the GOP heap. Trump has a commanding lead in the polls and questions whether or not to participate in the first Aug. 23 presidential debate. It’s questionable whether Pence will even qualify for the debate. If Trump doesn’t show up, Fox News will take a ratings hit, knowing all the hubbub over his presence in the debate. Christie thinks he’ll do to Trump what he did to Rubio back in 2016, make him look weak and inexperienced. Christie and Pence have much in common and would like to pounce on Trump if given a chance. Pence says if Smith asks him to testify at Trump’s D.C. trial about Jan. 6, Pence says he would tell the truth or his leaser his version of the truth. Pence seeks as much publicity as possible for his faltering campaign, hoping to get on the debate stage.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
