"In private Mr. Trump is apparently not feeling so fine" (about Pence's loyalty)

[Miles Archer]

“Mike, will you be my running mate?” Mr. Trump asked Vice President Pence, who stood up, raised his hand, and nodded.

***

But in private Mr. Trump is apparently not feeling so fine. In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects two years from now much on his mind, Mr. Trump has focused on the person who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him. In one conversation after another he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question: Is Mike Pence loyal?

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.

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.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/us/politics/mike-pence-trump-administration.html

Aaron Rupar
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Verified account

@atrupar

Aaron Rupar Retweeted Maggie Haberman

The Donald/Ivanka campaign is going to be lit

Link to tweet

[cannabis_flower]

1. Ewwww

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Pence has got his lips affixed to Tiny's fat orange ass like a remora on a shark

and Tiny still doesn't think he's loyal enough? Does he need Pence to come in and wipe his ass, too?

[gratuitous]

9. Maybe Pence came up for a breath?

I wonder if Pence will re-think his career---erk! That implies Pence did any thinking in the first place. Never mind.

[peekaloo]

12. LOL

I was thinking more of a barnacle on the Titanic but your description is way funnier.

[lunatica]

24. Trump's ass is purple with hickies.

Pence really knows how to suck up!

[True Dough]

3. Trump doesn't show loyalty

Why would he expect it from others?

[marybourg]

4. It must be terrible being tRump.

Always dissatisfied, always insecure.

[PJMcK]

34. Always angry, always raging

Who would want to work with someone like that?

[More_Cowbell]

5. Because that worked so well with Sarah Palin

Women aren't voting for a woman just because she's a woman.

[RockRaven]

6. Trump trusts virtually nobody. He certainly doesn't trust Pence to put Trump's interests first.

This was always going to be a stone in his shoe. He can't put himself in a vulnerable position, like by resigning, without absolutely trusting his successor. And he doesn't. So he's stuck.

[Blue Owl]

7. Trump & Ivanka combined with Pence & Mother...

What a disgusting spectacle all around...

[YessirAtsaFact]

8. Dear Dimwald-Please alienate Pence to the point where he won't pardon you!

I would love for OrangeTurd to be impeached, indicted, convicted and for President Pence to let him twist in the wind.

[LuckyLib]

20. That wonderful phrase "twisting in the wind" -- we are going to see alot

of that in the coming months as Mueller unleashes the horses.

[leftynyc]

10. A Nikki Haley pick

may just help him.

[Dave Starsky]

11. Pence would Brutus Trump in a half-second.

He only kisses Trump's ass to stay in the good graces of his cultists for the time being. Once Pence sees his own opportunity to be President of Evangelistan, he'll capitalize on it. Make no mistake about it.

[calimary]

36. I like that. Evangelistan!

[Power 2 the People]

13. I think it would be great

Pence's career aspirations are dashed forever by the Trump rebuke and Trump gets trounced and exiled after we beat him in 2020.

[Hortensis]

22. The only good thing I could imagine about Trump

finishing his term is that pence would've spent four years portraying a male Nancy Reagan only to be cut out and ejected from government at the end. I love that idea!

[calimary]

37. So do I. So much for "Worshipful Gaze 2.0"...

[Hortensis]

40. Lol. Chapter 2: Bromance: Opportunities, Problems, and Techniques.

[safeinOhio]

14. Question?

He can’t wait 2 years, can the president fire the VP?

[Danascot]

18. Great question

So I googled it. The answer is no. But discussion around it is pretty interesting.

[Cyrano]

15. Sorry, Donald. Pence isn't your employee. You can't fire him.

[Hekate]

16. That made me laugh out loud

[GusBob]

17. He is thinking about his future alright

He knows he is going to need a pardon to stay out of jail

[Scurrilous]

19. K&R

[Small-Axe]

21. All the big Republican insiders I know say that its an open secret that Mike Pence...

is just waiting for the right moment to throw Trump under the bus. Pass it along.

[PJMcK]

33. Many people are saying this (n/t)

[calimary]

38. Lotta people are saying...

Seems to me Pence has some apocalyptic hard-on involving himself as the “pResident” of a new Theocratic America. The “United States of Theocracy.” There’ll be some likely religious purity test included.

[peace frog]

23. As running mate in 2020 he'll ditch Pence

and take Nikki Haley in order to bolster his credibility with women voters.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. Nikki Haley strikes me as being too smart to want to team up with Trump.

Also, without Pence he'll need someone else to appeal to the evangelicals. If he also wants a woman VP (which I actually doubt) he's more likely to pick another dim bulb like Michele Bachmann, who's a female version of Pence only even dumber and crazier, or maybe he'll bring Sarah Palin back from watching Russia from her house.

[peace frog]

26. Haley is smart enough to know

that serving as a high-profile VP will put her in the spotlight to run for POTUS in 2024. Her ambition is fierce.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. The problem is that everything Trump touches dies.

I'm sure the reason she left the UN was because she couldn't work with Trump. If she wants to run for president some day she'd be better off running for Congress in 2020 (Senate or House) and trying for a nomination completely independent of Trump in 2024. It will take at least that long, probably longer, for the Trump stench to dissipate from the GOP (if that ever happens).

[peace frog]

28. If he asks her

she will accept readily. She's ambitious-smart, not rational-smart.

[Blue_true]

30. Or that crazy new Senator from rocky-top.

She hits all the buttons, adores Trump, is rightwing evangelical and is fucking crazy, plus no one but her lies more than Trump does.

[hatrack]

35. Uh, she already did . . . .

Also, he doesn't need anyone to appeal to the Thumpers - he's Cyrus the Great in their minds, "God's Instrument".

This is also, conveniently, the reason that his personal conduct matters not one whit, because Abortion Jeezus Armageddon Israel Whargle-Bhargle!!

[calimary]

39. Or how 'bout the new Senator-elect Marsha Blackburn?

She’s hardcore for him and she’d love a status elevation that high.

[mountain grammy]

29. Off with his head!

[Renew Deal]

31. Trump can't do better than Pence.

No credible person would run with him. He could get some Palin type. She’s not credible.

[bdamomma]

32. That is

disgusting his daughter? ??nothing like a fucking monarchy...…………. Democrats will certainly win big.