Trump privately asking aides if Pence is loyal: report

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

President Trump has privately asked aides about his vice president Mike Pence's loyalty, the New York Times reported Friday.

Trump reportedly questioned Pence's allegiance so many times that many of his advisers are alarmed, as those kinds of inquiries tend to indicate that he is irritated with someone.

According to the Times, most people within the White House have been supportive of Pence when asked, but some of Trump's outside advisers have suggested that the vice president may have used up his utility.

Trump has reportedly not made clear whether he is seriously considering a 2020 ticket change or whether he is simply trying to get adviser's opinions before the campaign begins.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/417135-trump-privately-asking-aides-if-pence-is-loyal-report

[Raster]

1. What's wrong Spanky... can't you tell by the way he lovingly looks...

...into your eyes? Isn't it obvious how he gently nuzzles your balls?

[47of74]

21. EWWWWWW Trying very hard not to picture that!

[dchill]

29. So poetic!

[louis c]

2. Trump is as crazy as a loon.

[dchill]

30. And twice as paranoid.

[LisaL]

44. You are not paranoid if they really are after you.

[dchill]

45. The conditions are not mutually exclusive!

[zentrum]

3. Doesn't The Hill

...kind of miss the point?

Trump is afraid Pence is actively conspiring against him---because....gee, I don't know....could it be that Pence wants his job?

[yuiyoshida]

4. "No, Mr. President, you can't fire the Vice President"

but he certainly could 25th Amendment you!

[FSogol]

7. Maybe Melania will fire Pence?

[yuiyoshida]

8. Technically she can't either

She doesn't hold that much power.

[LakeSuperiorView]

23. The largest power there is the power of suggestion...

Trumpy Bear, they are all out to get you....

[Jarqui]

5. I doubt it is just Trump asking questions about Pence

If Trump has to go, the GOP have to make sure Pence doesn't get dragged down with him. Otherwise, Pence will need to resign first so that he can be replaced by someone from the GOP and not the Speaker's chair.

Rachel has some pretty sketchy stuff on Pence knowing about Flynn early on in the transition. So I cannot safely assume Pence is in the clear - just as I cannot be sure he can be proven guilty of any crime either.

[Rollo]

37. Next January, who would be next in line...

... yup, the Speaker of the House ....

[Jarqui]

40. Look at history. See Gerald Ford

1973 House Minority Leader Ford becomes VP and then president in 1974 when Nixon resigns.
The Speaker is bypassed. Nixon got pardoned by Ford.

As a Nixon protester, I can offer two things:
The GOP of 1973-74 was far more ethical, honest, caring for country and abiding of the "rules" than the ruthless, dishonest GOP of today.
In the wake of JFK, RFK, MLK, Johnson & Nixon in Vietnam and Watergate, pardoning Nixon sucked the juices out of my federal activism for many years. I still haven't got completely over it. Obama & 9/11 helped revive it but there are wounds of disillusionment that are never going to completely heal.

If they get away with it again, I'm probably done as it will suck whatever juices are left in me for this fight. I'm getting too old to expect to I'll just heal up and wade back in. Bad wounds take time to heal up.

When you lose political leaders you embrace, support and adore like JFK, MLK & RFK, it hollows you out. I could not entirely enjoy Obama. You know why? I was so scared they were going to kill him. I still fear for his life.

If you really care, these events hurt you even more than you realize at the time and at the time, it is a shocking horror.

[MrScorpio]

6. Next he'll be accusing his staff of eating the strawberries in the WH fridge.

[NewJeffCT]

12. LOL

or, sneaking fries out of his Happy Meals

[NewJeffCT]

9. No, Pence is not loyal at all

he is planning on stabbing you in the back Trump. You best call him out on Twitter several times a week over the next few months, and then bring Melania in to fire him.

[Auggie]

10. or, "Can I can count on a Pence pardon?"

[Siwsan]

13. That's my guess.

He must know the legal nightmare he's facing, once out of office.

[Martin Eden]

11. Pence is loyal because he admires Trump's presidential qualities

Pence spelled out the qualities essential to the POTUS in a 2010 speech before the Federalist Society.

Columnist Steve Chapman quotes Pence in this linked article.

Excerpts:

The presidency's "powers are vast and consequential, its requirements — from the outset and by definition — impossible for mortals to fulfill without humility and insistent attention to its purposes as set forth in the Constitution of the United States," declared Pence, his gaze steely and his jaw firmly set. Of power, he said, "Those who are entrusted with it must educate themselves in self-restraint."

"A true statesman lives in what Churchill called a continuous 'stress of soul,'" Pence informed his audience. "And that's why you must always be wary of a president who seems to float upon his own greatness."

Pence told a story to illustrate the humanity and humility of Calvin Coolidge. "A sensibility like this — and not power — is the source of presidential dignity, and it must be restored," he said. "It depends entirely upon character, self-discipline and an understanding of the fundamental principles that underlie not only the republic but life itself.

"It communicates that the president feels the gravity of his office and is willing to sacrifice himself, that his eye is not upon his own prospects but upon the storm of history, through which it is his responsibility to navigate with the specific powers accorded to him and the limitations placed upon them not merely by man but by God."

For those who feared Obama's presidency would bring about the destruction of America, Pence solemnly invoked the "great generations" that have gone before us: "They are silent now, but from the eternal silence of every patriot grave, there is yet an echo that says, 'It's not too late. Keep faith with us. Keep faith in God. And do not, do not ever despair of this republic."

[Delphinus]

35. How in the world

could anyone, even Pence, not recognize that Obama felt the gravity of the office, etc.? Where did it need to be "restored" when Obama was in office? Really, this is ludicrous!

[Martin Eden]

36. Pence is a political hack and a ginormous hypocrite

Obama was the obvious target in that high minded sounding speech which was supposed to add some veneer to the rightwing narrative that the 44th president was some kind of disgrace to the office.

Pretty obvious now that Pence has utterly disgraced himself by being such an abject sycophant to the POtuS who is the exact opposite of the virtues extolled in that speech.

[yardwork]

41. Pure racism and Republicanism.

[keithbvadu2]

14. Pence is not family so he cannot be trusted.

Pence is not family so he cannot be trusted.

Who would benefit if Trump was ousted by 25th Amendment?

[CloudWatcher]

15. 25th Amendment, section 4

I doubt if he's read it, but someone finally mentioned what the 25th amendment section 4 allows. With so many scum suckers in the cabinet and in the GOP side of Congress, it's not far-fetched that it will be used against him.

From Vanity Fair Oct 2017

Several months ago, according to two sources with knowledge of the conversation, former chief strategist Steve Bannon told Trump that the risk to his presidency wasn’t impeachment, but the 25th Amendment—the provision by which a majority of the Cabinet can vote to remove the president. When Bannon mentioned the 25th Amendment, Trump said, “What’s that?” According to a source, Bannon has told people he thinks Trump has only a 30 percent chance of making it the full term.

I suspect he realizes that the 30% estimate was unrealistically high.

[Stainless]

16. Paranoia Strikes Deep.......

Into your life it will creep. Trump's paranoia is merely another manifestation of his diseased mind.

[Iliyah]

17. Paranoia in full force . . .

Pence met with Putin, and probably making some kind of contact with Un. I think the GOP's basically got what they wanted from t-rump and now are ready to move on with Pence. Plus losing bigly helped make that decision quicker.

The nightmare will continue.

[justhanginon]

18. Hey trumpy, some people are saying that Pence

has a custom made toilet with your portrait painted in the center of the bowl. That's what some people are saying.

[LiberalLovinLug]

19. I don't think ANYONE is loyal to Trump...other than dumb and dumber and the bimbo

They follow him, obey him, out of either one of, or a combination of...

fear
or power access

Other than the powerless sheep who are deathly loyal to him because of his white supremacist revolution he is trying to start.

[Dopers_Greed]

20. Trump/Kobach 2020

[cstanleytech]

22. He might be looking to see if he is loyal enough for the next SCOTUS slot should say

Clarence Thomas step down or one of the other justices.

[duforsure]

24. He probably wants

Ivanke to replace him .

[Trenzalore]

25. You'd think he would have figured out no one is loyal by now

Not one of them. If the ship starts sinking they will run over his old body to get to the life boat.

[sfwriter]

26. This isn't about 2020.

This is about his own pardon if he resigns. The bug is in his ear. The fun is gone.

[LonePirate]

27. He's worried Pence may not pardon him when the Mueller indictments start raining down on him.

[Hassler]

28. If Dump makes it to the 2020 election, someone won't be on the ticket with him.

[Mike Nelson]

31. Pence...

… would never consummate his relationship with His Donald... he will deny his love as against The Lord's wishes. So, the answer is no.

[Hugin]

32. NO! He's not! Never was! Fire him, now!

The leaks are coming from him!

DO IT NOW! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

[Rollo]

38. It's all about the "Lodestar" ...

... one of Pence's favorite words, Lodestar. Appeared in the NYT letter about the need for adults in the Oval Office to make sure Trump doesn't go totally out of control....

[marble falls]

33. I don't know man, I heard Pence has been handing out decoder rings to the few select in the ...

White House.

[lindysalsagal]

34. Breaking; trump nominates jack the ripper for replacement vp...

And jack turns him down.

[LisaL]

42. Pence was elected, as such I don't believe he can be fired?

[JonLP24]

43. I wasn't serious in my post at all

I knew it was probably a bad joke so I'll self delete.

[Progressive Jones]

46. Trump would actually be worse than Trump due to religious bullshit. nt