Trump Said to Be Questioning the Loyalty of Mike Pence

Who among us has seen the hit movie, “Scarface,” starring Al Pacino?

For the two of you who haven’t, Pacino plays Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who rises from murderous hitman to a dangerous drug overlord.

Montana falls deeply into the role of brutal killer and cocaine king, making a fortune, but also violating the first rule of the business – Don’t get high on your own supply.

His eventual, violent end came because of the drug use that plunged him into paranoia and madness.

Part of that madness led him to murder his partner and best friend, Manolo “Manny” Ribera (played superbly by Steven Bauer).

So I’ve taken you through this brief movie synopsis, to work my way over to a new report of paranoia and madness, involving, of course, President Trump.

No. I’m not accusing the president of being a cocaine king, but if this new report from The New York Times is valid, he’s definitely in the throes of paranoia and madness, and as a result, he’s ready to murder his partner (Theoretically, not literally, guys).

According to the news from The Times, President Trump has begun to question the “loyalty” of Vice President Mike Pence.

That’s right – the same, jelly-spined beta that wrote a Veteran’s Day piece praising Trump, rather than reflecting on the actual veterans who have given so much for this nation and our well-being – Mike Pence. He felt veterans should be reminded on their day of how much they owed Donald Trump. For his troubles, his loyalty is being questioned.

Trump received five deferrals for a sore foot, by the way.

I can get Trump giving side-eye to just about anybody else in his administration, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, but Pence has proven himself time and again to be every bit the quivering, weak Renfield of the Trump administration.

Doubt it? Go look for that amazing video of Trump removing his bottle of water from a meeting table, and Mike Pence, without looking up or saying a word, immediately mirroring his lord’s behavior and also removing his bottle of water.

We don’t have a vice president in the United States, today. Mike Pence is something else. He’s the Stepford VP.

Movie buffs get that.

At a presser after the midterms, the president was asked about his 2020 run. At the time, he called out Pence and asked if he would run with him, again, and you know Pence is not prepared to disconnect from that sick, bizarre, symbiotic relationship.

Meanwhile, it’s a difference scene – for Trump – in private.

Is Mike Pence loyal to the throne?

Mr. Trump has repeated the question so many times that he has alarmed some of his advisers. The president has not openly suggested dropping Mr. Pence from the ticket and picking another running mate, but the advisers say those kinds of questions usually indicate that he has grown irritated with someone.

So what are they saying?

Within the White House, most people he has talked to have assured the president that Mr. Pence has been a committed soldier, engaging in activities that Mr. Trump has eschewed, such as traveling to Hawaii to receive the remains of veterans of the Korean War, or visiting parts of the globe that Mr. Trump has avoided.

But some Trump advisers, primarily outside the White House, have suggested to him that while Mr. Pence remains loyal, he may have used up his utility. These advisers argue that Mr. Trump has forged his own relationship with evangelical voters, and that what he might benefit from more is a running mate who could help him with women voters, who disapprove of him in large numbers.

In other words, the clingers and skulkers Trump still relies on, who creep in the shadows, just outside of the kingdom walls, are saying that now that the cult-mindset has set in with American evangelicals, there’s no need to keep Pence on, as a cover for these Trump Christians to look to.

The conversations were described in interviews with nearly a dozen White House aides and others close to Mr. Trump. But Hogan Gidley, the deputy press secretary, disputed that Mr. Trump had any misgivings. “The president absolutely supports the vice president and thinks he’s doing an incredible job helping to carry out the mission and policies of this administration.”

Uh-oh.

With this administration, the first clue that somebody has fallen out of favor with President Tweety McBestWords is somebody from his press crew saying that person is “supported” by the president.

Mr. Trump has never completely forgotten that during the 2016 campaign Mr. Pence issued a disapproving statement the day after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was made public, on which the president was heard making comments boasting about grabbing women’s genitals.

He’s still peeved over that? Did he forget the only reason he has a milquetoast like Pence on the ticket is because of the situational ethics of his evangelical base, who consider his occasionally brushing up against Pence at events the same as having a “Christian” president.

It’s kind of like selling a presidential “indulgence.”

And there’s no doubt that Pence is doing Trump’s bidding, even if his soul – along with his dignity – dies a little more, every day.

In recent weeks, Mr. Pence has stepped into public frays to defend the president, saying that “everyone has their own style” when asked if Mr. Trump’s fiery political and personal language have led to violent acts, including the mass shooting at a Jewish synagogue and bomb threats mailed to prominent Democratic figures.

On other issues, Mr. Pence has staked out a firm position when the president has seemed noncommittal or disengaged.

He has repeatedly vowed consequences for the Saudis over the killing of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And before attending the Asia-Pacific summit meeting in Singapore in Mr. Trump’s absence on Wednesday, Mr. Pence forcefully told Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, that political violence that caused more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee that country was “without excuse.”

On his Asia trip, Mr. Pence has also called for press freedom even as the president continues to assail journalists back home.

It’s situations like that that lead people to not take Pence seriously.

My pastor once gave a sermon and explained that it was easier to pull somebody down, than to pull someone up.

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NASB) – “³³ Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.’ “

Still, there are those that point out that for a president approaching a run for a second term, it’s not unheard of to test the waters, as to if there should be a new running mate.

Before his 2012 run, Barack Obama considered dropping Joe Biden for Hillary Clinton.

I doubt that would have kept the White House in Democrat hands in 2016, but it was considered, at that time.

Ultimately, he chose against it, and that was likely to his benefit.

Pence has his defenders, who feel he’s still an asset to the administration.

Some of Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters feel particularly strongly that making a change would be a mistake.

“Mike Pence is an invaluable asset to President Trump politically, on shaping policy and personnel, and in cementing the epoxy-like bond with evangelicals,” said Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “He is also fiercely loyal, which is the coin of Trump’s realm. The president has said he plans to keep Pence, and that is an infinitely wise decision.”

Loyalty to Trump – coin of Trump’s realm.

Still think we’re not seeing some sort of psychotic, would-be monarchy with this administration? They can’t help but slip up.

And the notion that we’ve got a man who is the second-in-charge whose value lies with his loyalty to the throne above the republic is troubling.

But is he that valuable and necessary?

Maybe not.

Robert P. Johns, the chief executive of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, said that the president faced an “at best moderate risk” if he were to drop Mr. Pence from the ticket.

Mr. Johns said that while Mr. Pence may have served as a validating figure for white evangelicals, recent research showed that 7 out of 10 white evangelicals who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party would prefer Mr. Trump over any alternative Republican candidate in 2020.

A third of white evangelicals who support Trump, Mr. Johns said, indicated there was virtually nothing the president could do to shake their trust — which theoretically includes selecting a new running mate.

“At the end of the day evangelicals have become sold not just on Pence but on Trump himself,” Mr. Johns said.

I think Johns is hitting on a lot of truth. Trump may have needed Pence at first, in order to draw in those early evangelical voters, but I rarely hear Pence’s name come up when they rush to defend his latest, un-Christlike outbreak, these days.

So is Mike Pence safe?

With this administration, this president, and his growing paranoia over a range of stressors, nobody is going to be surprised to see Trump-as-Scarface take out Pence-as-Manny (theoretically, guys).