Trump's Alleged Approval Of Violence Toward Pence Is, Unfortunately, Not Surprising

As details of what happened on Jan. 6 continue to emerge, the story of Trump's relentless efforts to oust VP Pence — maybe literally — should not shock anyone.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman recently published a staggering story about how then- President Donald Trump allegedly approved violent chants toward then- Vice President Mike Pence, such as “Hang Mike Pence:”:

Shortly after hundreds of rioters at the Capitol started chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” on Jan. 6, 2021, the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, left the dining room off the Oval Office, walked into his own office and told colleagues that President Donald J. Trump was complaining that the vice president was being whisked to safety.

It goes without saying that January 6th was — and still is — a fresh reminder of Trump’s relentlessly dangerous efforts to amplify the lies of a rigged election. What’s more, an even more recent Haberman story claims that former Pence chief of staff Marc Short warned the VP’s lead Secret Service agent of an increasing threat against the former Indiana governor:

The day before a mob of President Donald J. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff called Mr. Pence’s lead Secret Service agent to his West Wing office.

The chief of staff, Marc Short, had a message for the agent, Tim Giebels: The president was going to turn publicly against the vice president, and there could be a security risk to Mr. Pence because of it.

For those who were glued to their phones on that day, you’ll remember Trump’s infamous Twitter videos pushing the egregiously false narrative that Pence “didn’t have the courage” to allow states to certify respective votes — remember, he “loved” the violent mob who marched Pennsylvania Avenue while sitting back in the Oval Office.

The reality is that Trump is likely, but definitely running in 2024 and Americans will be in never-ending limbo circa 2015. Polling for 2024 contenders have been all over the place: Emerson University has Trump beating Biden by 3-6 percentage points while YouGov has it the other way around.

If I had a say, let Ben Sasse become the GOP’s frontrunner — guided principles, a no-nonsense moderate conservative and politically intelligent candidate. If I were being realistic, DeSantis will deny being Trump’s VP and take a worthy gamble running against the 45th president.