Conservative critics swung back at former Vice President Mike Pence after he issued a blistering statement in support of the latest indictment of Donald Trump regarding the January 6th riot at the Capitol.
In one of the more clear-cut examples of malicious prosecution coming out of the Department of Justice, Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on four federal charges on Tuesday.
The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Pence responded to news of the indictment with full-on support and borderline glee.
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” he said.
“Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man’s career,” added Pence. “On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will.”
Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 2, 2023
RELATED: J.D. Vance Exposes Pence’s False Claim That Christian Leaders Aren’t Being Jailed In Ukraine
Pence Hails Trump Indictment
What’s amusing is that Pence’s statement on the indictment goes on to convey three words about how things would be different if he won the election: “As your President.”
That’s a scenario this country is never going to encounter when the man continues to make such outlandish statements. You’d think the focus would be on the attempt by the Special Counsel to criminalize free speech. Or the continued pursuit of the DOJ to jail Republican supporters.
But Pence, desperate for a bump in the polls, decided to take his best shot. And conservatives noticed.
Fox News contributor Mark Levin slammed Pence’s comments as “shameful.”
“No Mike. That’s not what it shows,” Levin fired back. “Did you read these charges? They’ve nothing to do with the Constitution.”
No Mike. That’s not what it shows. Did you read these charges? They’ve nothing to do with the Constitution. This is a shameful statement. https://t.co/x5Qn5pDIHt
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) August 2, 2023
Social media personality “Catturd” wished everyone today a very good morning … except for one person.
“Good morning to everyone except used car salesman, phony, Ukraine first, backstabber, fake Christian, loser Mike Pence,” they wrote.
Ouch!
Good morning to everyone except used car salesman, phony, Ukraine first, backstabber, fake Christian, loser Mike Pence.
— Catturd (@catturd2) August 2, 2023
Sam Janney, managing editor of Twitchy who goes by the Twitter handle “PolitiBunny,” suggested the response from Pence was worse than the Trump indictment itself.
The only thing worse than today’s Trump indictment is @Mike_Pence’s response to it.
— TheFOO (@PolitiBunny) August 2, 2023
Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell advised voters to stay away from the former Vice President.
No one in American should vote for RINO #MikePence https://t.co/4ns3jsojYv
— TheLeoTerrell (@TheLeoTerrell) August 2, 2023
And political commentator Benny Johnson celebrated the fact that Pence’s campaign was already over.
“So glad Tucker Carlson ended your career,” Johnson wrote, a reference to a recent forum of Republican presidential candidates in Iowa in which the former Fox News host tangled with Pence on his pro-Ukraine platform.
So glad Tucker Carlson ended your career.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 2, 2023
RELATED: Tucker Carlson Exposes ‘America Last’ Republicans
Pence Has Previously Insisted The Media Made Capitol Riot Bigger Than It Was
That forum, incidentally, also featured Pence making the claim that religious leaders were not being jailed in Ukraine … on the very same day a senior Orthodox cleric had been detained in Kyiv.
Turning a blind eye to jailing religious leaders as well as political opponents isn’t exactly a winning formula, Mike.
Tucker Carlson: “The Zelenskyy government has arrested priests. That’s not consistent with religious liberty. It’s an attack on it, and we are funding it.”
Mike Pence: “I asked the Christian leader in Kyiv if that was happening and he assured me it was not.” pic.twitter.com/4c2szc5JpH
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) July 14, 2023
Pence actually plays a central role in the Trump indictment. Special Counsel Smith used notes from the former Vice President that included detailed recollections of private calls and conversations – including one particular conversation that took place on Christmas Day, 2020.
“When the Vice President called the defendant to wish him a Merry Christmas, the defendant quickly turned the conversations to Jan. 6 and his request that the Vice President reject electoral votes that day,” the indictment states.
Phone conversations are now criminal in America. What in the actual …?
Free speech has been indicted. Read this section of the indictment.
It acknowledges that Trump has the right to say, even falsely, the results were fraudulent and claim he won the election. That’s protected by the First Amendment.
But the indictment says he can’t lie about… pic.twitter.com/tKDBP93j3Z
— Will Cain (@willcain) August 1, 2023
Pence has insisted for some time that he had no authority to object to the certification of the 2020 election results and that his role that day was primarily ceremonial.
MIKE PENCE: “President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.” pic.twitter.com/7feWD75Fq1
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) February 4, 2022
One area in which the two agree is that the media blew January 6th completely out of proportion as a means to denounce Trump supporters, who they have despised all along.
Pence, who was the target of some vile threats by a handful of protesters at the riot, decried media focus of the so-called “insurrection” as being obsessed with “one day in January.”
“They want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020,” Pence said.
Pence: “Trump and I Parted Amicably; The Media Is Using Jan. 6th to Demean the Character of 74 Million Americans” https://t.co/KjzVKhobOy
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) October 5, 2021
Now, however, when it comes to prosecutions of those same people, Pence is on board. No pardons for January 6th prisoners who only had tangential connections to the events of that day, and full-throated support for Trump’s indictment.
RIP Pence’s campaign.
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The post Conservatives Shred Mike Pence After He Issues Statement Supporting Trump Indictment: ‘Should Never Be President’ appeared first on The Political Insider.
