Is Mike Pence A RINO?
Let's examine the allegations levied against Mike Pence
If you’ve been on Twitter for a while, there’s a solid chance you’ve come across all sorts of accusations against former president Trump’s VP, Mike Pence, from some prominent conservative accounts. Ranging all the way from treason to being a "Republican In Name Only" (RINO).
The campaign against Pence began primarily with the certification of the 2020 election on January 6th, 2021. Pence, who was in charge of certifying the 2020 election, refused to comply with Trump's request to reject the election results based on unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud.
The notion that Pence is a traitor is obviously absurd. Trump had ample opportunity to litigate the election results, but he failed to provide any concrete evidence to support his claim of election fraud. Pence followed his duty as outlined in the Constitution to certify the rightful winner of the election. However, that did not stop some January 6th protestors from chanting "hang Mike Pence" for being a traitor.
But the idea that Pence is a RINO is even more absurd. A simple Google search will show that Pence is infinitely more conservative than Trump.
Trump loyalists don't like hearing that, but on policy, Trump wasn't very conservative on a variety of issues, ranging from fiscal responsibility to COVID lockdowns. As you might recall, he criticized Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for reopening their respective states too quickly. However, as many of us have come to expect from some of these Trump loyalists, logic isn't always their strong suit. They can call McCarthy the swamp and worship the supposed 'drainer of the swamp,' Trump, who has endorsed McCarthy for speaker of the house, in the same breath.
Most of the Republican politicians and policymakers whom Trump loyalists consider the swamp have been enthusiastically endorsed by Trump or appointed by Trump to serve in his administration. From Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan; from former National Security Advisor John Bolton, to Head of the FBI Chris Wray, and former Attorney General Bill Barr.
There are many more examples to cite, but the point is, it’s very difficult to make the case that Trump is the leader of the anti-swamp while he put many of these supposed swamp people in their positions. Same is with the view that Trump is the leader of the conservative movement while in many cases advocating for policies that go explicitly against conservative principles.
This piece isn’t meant to dunk on Trump. I’ve been an avid Trump supporter for the entirety of his presidency. I think he's been a phenomenal president and brought along a fresh perspective on many issues, particularly on the economy and foreign policy. I’ve disagreed with a lot of his actions after losing the 2020 elections and I believe his rhetoric and candidate picks are, at least in part, responsible for the lackluster Republican performance in the 2022 midterms. But that doesn’t take away from the many accomplishments of his presidency.
Nor is it my intentions with this story to endorse Mike Pence for president or for anything else. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you probably know by now that my preferred candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election is Ron DeSantis. I think Pence is a nice guy, but I am not a particular fan of the way he does politics.
I simply wanted to dispel the myth that Trump is flawless and anyone who ever disagrees with him is immediately a RINO and part of the swamp.
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