Former Vice President Mike Pence is finally letting loose with some sharp words of reprimand for his erstwhile boss, Donald Trump.
Speaking Saturday at the Gridiron Dinner, a white-tie event organized by journalists in Washington, Pence delivered his sharpest break from Trump to date. “History will hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6,” Pence said. “Make no mistake about it: What happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way. President Trump was wrong. His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day.”
Pence’s comments stand out as much for what they don’t say as for what they do.
The Washington media received Pence’s remarks as “biting” and as an “unexpected twist.” Given that Pence was attending a dinner with journalists, it’s clear he was trying to launch a new narrative about his relationship with Trump and about his own willingness to stand up for what he apparently believes is right.
But Pence’s comments stand out as much for what they don’t say as for what they do. Who exactly is meant to hold Trump accountable? In Pence’s account, justice is delegated to the ethereal forces of “history,” instead of, say, the GOP, the American public or the criminal justice system. Pence’s calling for accountability but ruling out its meaningful pursuit reveals how his Trump challenge is affective in nature, not substantive.
Pay close attention, too, to how Pence frames Trump’s behavior. Trump was “wrong”; his behavior was a “disgrace”; acknowledging this is as matter of “decency.” Pence’s language carefully limits his criticism of Trump to a matter of personal misconduct. What’s missing is a reckoning with the political mechanics of what was happening — an authoritarian rejection of the democratic process. And while Pence talks about the lives of Pence’s family and lawmakers at the Capitol, he doesn’t talk about the ongoing threat posed to democratic life. The central question…
Read the full article here
