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Mike Pence surprised many Americans recently when he announced he will not endorse Donald Trump for president. After years of meekly kowtowing to Trump, the former vice president parted ways with him – for the second time.
The first time Pence refused to do Trump’s bidding was when he decided he could not constitutionally nor honorably refuse to count Joe Biden’s electoral votes from the 2020 election.
Pence, who had made a name for himself in the Republican party as a conservative and moralistic abortion opponent, was selected by Trump to attract the evangelical vote, and he accepted. Throughout his career in politics, Pence had touted his religious convictions and faithfulness to his wife, but he joined Trump’s ticket, aligning himself with a man three-times married with a history of being unfaithful, who told the world on the Access Hollywood tape how he sexually abused women.
Pence ingratiated himself to Trump throughout their term in the White House. He stood dutifully at Trump’s side as the former president lurched his way through an incoherent administration, both domestically and internationally. An avowed devout Christian, Pence remained silent when Trump insulted disabled veterans, authorized the separation of 5,000 migrant children from their parents (1,000 remain separated today) and retaliated against anyone who criticized him.
Pence was mocked for his passivity and meek acceptance of his boss’s inflammatory and coarse language and his penchant for telling falsehoods. Pence never criticized, nor did his loyalty ever falter. He never expressed any concern during Trump’s two government shutdowns, two impeachment trials and constant turnover of staff.
To this day, Pence swears he is proud of their “conservative accomplishments” and he never acknowledges the constant chaos that turned many Republicans against Trump by 2020. He is just now criticizing Trump for defending January 6 rioters and calling them patriots and hostages. It’s taken Pence a long time to find his voice, but finally, he’s getting closer.
It’s surprising to hear Pence praise their administration after the disastrous way they mishandled the pandemic. For two months, Trump denied the threat of an imminent major epidemic, saying “it would affect only a few people and would be gone soon.” He ignored the rapid spread of COVID, allowing it to infect millions before taking critical steps to combat it.
Trump then assigned Pence to be in charge of efforts to deal with the pandemic, but he wouldn’t get out of the way and let him handle it. Not wanting Pence and the medical team to be in the limelight during the crisis, he began the daily, embarrassing briefings taking the lead himself, drowning out his medical team and causing massive confusion among terrified Americans.
Totally unprepared and ill-equipped personally to deal with a crisis, Trump first called for face masks, then refused to wear them himself. He touted the rapid production of COVID vaccines, then allowed the vaccine to be demonized. Managing supplies of medical equipment was bungled from the beginning as he blustered his way through daily updates, making idiotic suggestions for possible treatments such as bleach, ultraviolet light and worming medication for horses.
Then, early on, Trump turned his attention to getting reelected, and thereafter simply lost all interest in the health crisis. He turned it over to Pence, but by that time, hundreds of thousands of people were already dead.
President Biden, after his election that November, inherited enormous health and economic problems resulting from the pandemic. Trump, now completely obsessed with his failure to win reelection, refused to participate in the transition process that normally occurs between administrations. With little information to go on, Biden began the major tasks of bringing COVID under control, helping Americans deal with its effects and repairing a nation left in economic shambles.
How quickly we’ve forgotten the agony of the pandemic - the isolation from our loved ones, the anxiety, the terrible suffering, a million deaths. Today, we hear MAGA Republicans like Rep. Elise Stefanik tell voters, “We were so much better off four years ago.” If we have any memory at all, we know four years ago it was hell for the American people.
During those extremely difficult times when Trump faltered, we needed the voice of reason from people like Pence. But, where was his voice – ever - during those four long years?