#vp pence

[deadpresidents]

Interesting that there's tension between Obama and Biden since leaving office. Did any other recent presidents have issues with their vice president?

Ummm....Trump legitimately almost got his Vice President killed on January 6th, so let's not forget that. Especially since Mike Pence was one of the most subservient, ass-kissingest (I made that word up, it's okay) Vice Presidents in American history up until the last two weeks of their Administration.

Pretty much all of the POTUS/VP partnerships this century ended kinda badly. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were barely on speaking terms for a few years. Gore felt that Clinton cost him dearly with the whole Lewinsky scandal right before Gore made his own bid for the Presidency in 2000. Clinton felt that Gore should have sucked it up and used him more as a surrogate on the campaign trail because even with the scandals, Clinton was still a wildly popular President in his last few years in office, and a top-notch campaigner. Gore tried to put as much distance as possible between him an Clinton during the 2000 campaign and considering how razor-thin the margin was in 2000, Clinton's presence on the campaign trail probably would have sealed the deal and made Gore the President.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were growing apart in Bush's second term. Bush started to bristle at all the talk that he was an empty suit and that Cheney was the power behind the throne, and he sidelined Cheney in the second term compared to Cheney's aggressive role in the first term, particularly during the run-up to the Iraq War. The breaking point was when Bush refused to pardon Scooter Libby, Cheney's chief of staff, who was indicted and ultimately convicted for leaking information about Valerie Plame's role as a CIA agent. Cheney thought President Bush should give Libby a full and clear pardon, but although Bush commuted Libby's prison sentence, he refused to give him a full pardon and it infuriated Cheney. They've reconciled over the years, but it's still a sore spot whenever Cheney talks about it. Of course, Donald Trump eventually pardoned Libby.

I think we'll learn more about the relationship between President Biden and Vice President Harris after the election, but it doesn't seem like they were particularly close, although there wasn't the outright tension as in the other partnerships I've mentioned. Biden has always had an extremely tight circle of close advisers, and I don't think Kamala ever was a part of that insular world around Biden. It seems that, instead of tension between the principals, there were issues from the beginning between the two staffs. I'm not sure they were ever completely on the same page, but those stories won't fully come to light until after November.

[tomorrowusa]

The lines at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.

The Trump hush money trial has become a public grovelling pit for Republicans wishing to be Trump's running mate. These people have lost any remaining dignity they might have still had.

VP wannabees: Be careful what you ask for.

[pjharvey-moved]

it's really just insane that trump had to get a new vice president for his 2024 campaign bc he. essentially called for his followers to kill the other one

[thashining]

What is VP?

[imhereonthekitchenfloor]

It's the fact that Braun is beating McCormick for Indiana governor and that Bruan made Mike Pence look good in comparison😭😭😭

[davidaugust]

There it is.

[annagrzinskys]

why the FUCK do my south african colleagues support trump (???) and are sharing nonsense about him winning via FOX NEWS

[aunti-christ-ine]

[hamletthedane]

@mackintosh-buccaneer you cannot leave this gem in the tags

[hale-nathan]

Trump Weird News - Hang Mike Pence

"'Tourist Having A Good Time...' According To Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia It Was 'A Normal Tourist Visit'."

Pence: "January 6 was a tragic day in the life of our nation."

Pence: "I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year."

[worldofwardcraft]

The missing man.

May 16, 2024

At the Republican National Committee's spring donor retreat held at his Florida golf resort last week, Donald Trump mingled with a long list of potential running mates. Included were such reliable Trump toadies as senators Marco Rubio of Florida, J.D. Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina. Also in attendance were North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, South Dakota governor and puppy killer Kristi Noem, as well as New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik.

But little notice has been given to the fact that absent from this parade of flatterers and flunkies was Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence (pictured above leaving the MAGA formation). It's standard practice, of course, for presidents who are running for reelection to keep their vice presidents on the ticket. So why isn't Trump?

The answer to that is fairly straightforward: Pence refused to join in Trump's illegal fake electors plot to overturn the 2020 election and return him to office. It seems that when Trump incited thousands of armed rioters — some chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" — to attack the US Capitol in January 2021, that was the last straw. From then on, the once faithful veep was a committed never-Trumper. Said Pence later, "President Trump asked me to put him over the Constitution. But I chose the Constitution, and I always will."

Naturally, Trump never called Pence on or after January 6 to see if he was all right. And never apologized for putting his dependably loyal #2 in danger. Instead, Trump's response was about what you'd expect from a weak, petty individual who never forgets or forgives a slight. Last August, he wrote on his failing social media site:

WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side. I never told a newly embolded…Pence to put me above the Constitution…He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.

Last year, Pence entered the presidential race himself, calling for a rejection of Trump's "siren song of populism" and for a return to the solid conservative policies of "limited government, free enterprise, fiscal responsibility and traditional moral values." But his words fell on deaf ears with a party mired in MAGA madness. He dropped out in October 2023.

And so it is that, with former VP Pence omitted from the Mar-a-Lago auditions, Trump's squadron of those who could serve as his campaign wingman has a noticeable vacancy.

[imadititom]

Never let anyone tell you men are not messy or don't gossip.

They do ! Case in point.

I'm here for that mess, and if it elevates the rhyme and art. I'm here for it. Coz the male rap game has been dry, don't even get me started with the bare minimum production value touring.

[wilwheaton]

Reasons Trump is Unfit for Office, with Sources.

From this comment on Reddit:

Top reasons why Trump should not be president.

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Lost the election and lied about it.Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sent an armed angry mob to Congress and told them they need to fight like hell. Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Approved of the mob saying “hang Mike Pence”. Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Was found liable for sexual assault.Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Was found guilty of defrauding his university students. Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Was found guilty of inflating his assets to get favorable loans.Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Admitted to walking in on pageant contestants’ dressing rooms.Source

⁠⁠⁠⁠ Allegedly Raped and beat Ivana Trump. Source

⁠⁠ Stole from a kids’ cancer charity. Source

Received $413 million inheritance despite claims that he’s a self made man. Source

Blocked his chronically ill infant nephew from getting any of that inheritance. Source

Is the first president to receive votes against him from his own party during impeachment. Source

Led us into being one of the worst hit during Covid despite our head start and resources, leading to high inflation. Source

Said the Democrats do better with the economy.Source

Was ranked as the worst president in history by bipartisan presidential historians.Source

Pushed a plot to have fake votes created and then used to make him President despite losing the election.Source

Ordered republicans to block a bipartisan immigration billso Biden would not get a win before the election.Source

Is a convicted felon guilty of falsifying records to influence an election.Source

Told the Department of Justice to “just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen.”Source

His VP, Mike Pence said Trump should never be president again, and that Trump asked him to put himself “above the Constitution”. Source

Got Fox News successfully sued for repeating/pushing his administrations election lies. A $787M settlement. Source

Said he’d be a dictator for one day Source

Trump lied to, or misled the public 30,573 times in the four years he held office. Source

Also, just regarding some of the Trump administration that have been convicted of crimes:

Donald Trump was charged, convicted, and is awaiting sentencing.

Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

Trump’s former campaign vice chairman, Rick Gates, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

Trump’s former adviser and former campaign aide, Roger Stone, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

Trump’s former adviser and former White House aide Peter Navarro, was charged, convicted, and is currently in prison.

Trump’s former campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

The Trump Organization’s former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, was charged, convicted, and sentenced to prison.

Trump’s former White House national security advisor, Michael Flynn, was charged and convicted.

Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering, in addition to a conviction in a contempt case similar to Navarro’s. He’s currently awaiting sentencing.

Though he was later acquitted at trial, Trump’s former inaugural committee chair, Tom Barrack, was charged with illegally lobbying Trump on behalf of a foreign government. (Elliot Broidy was the vice chair of Trump’s inaugural committee, and he found himself at the center of multiple controversies, and also pled guilty to federal charges related to illegal lobbying.)

Two lawyers associated with Trump’s post-defeat efforts, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, have pleaded guilty to election-related crimes.

Source

And if your vote is based strictly on economic achievements, here is a TikTok video comparing Trumps economy by the numbers. Tiktok link

[ivovynckier]

Mike Pence about to enter the race. Not sure his campaign will fly.

[qqueenofhades]

Obviously the main contrasting narrative of the Harris campaign is (rightfully, the ads almost write themselves!) prosecutor vs convict. But I keep thinking about how, in one of her first campaign speeches, she had Biden on the phone and he said something like "I'm here, I love you Kid" and she said "I love you too" and just... That compared to the Jan 6th Mike Pence situation. Like this election is about democracy over fascism but it's also about love and kindness and sincerity on the level of person-to-person relationships.

Well... yeah. As Minnesota governor Tim Walz put it when he was doing the TV rounds for Kamala the other day, the Republicans are just weird people. They are mean, petty, reactionary, focused on revenge and retribution and making people suffer, their rhetoric is about shame and violence and punishment, they are all about Who Your Enemy Is, and their drift into ever more extreme fascist positions is a reflection of that. And strongman/fascist authoritarianism is often popular during moments of chaos and upheaval in the rest of the world, because the unknown feels so scary and people keep falling for the lie that a helpful dictator strongman will turn up and make it all better. It never happens, but it is a powerful lie and it can work for several years at a time, as we have (unfortunately) seen. (And Tim Walz is definitely climbing the list of Old White Guys I Like; supposedly he is on Harris' initial VP shortlist, and while I certainly have favorites of my own, she could very much do worse.)

However, and this is why fascist movements always plant the seeds of their own destruction, this constant garbage spew of hate and vitriol never ever works forever, and usually not even all that long. Because once you spend your time destroying everyone else on your mean stupid crusade of mindless bigotry, you lose friends, you alienate the ordinary people who are more interested in having something to be FOR rather than just constantly against, and eventually you eat your own. And while it will shore up your ever-dwindling cult base, it will not be able to expand beyond the people who are already fully indoctrinated, and it will lose more people than it attracts. As I have said before, one of the key tenets of fascist movements is presenting themselves as powerful, inevitable, and almighty: just surrender to them now before We Crush You (tm) later! But they are not! They are goofy, stupid, mean, and just plain (thanks Gov. Walz) WEIRD! Nobody wants to be those guys!

So yes. With the whole fact of a party where one guy tried to get his first VP killed and now has picked another reactionary loser who is the least popular VP pick in 50 years, and the other is joyfully supporting his VP, a woman of color (after serving loyally to the first Black president, Biden has set the way for the -- knock on wood -- second, and that is also amazing), it's really easy to see the difference, and very clearly, people do. Kamala offers something to rally FOR, and that is always, always more powerful than mindless hate. Sucks to be the GOP. (As usual.)