Donald Trump continues throw tantrums with with false claims of “massive dumps” (of votes, duh) that he says cost him the election. He’s also suggested that he might refuse to leave the White House in January while tweeting, “Think I’ll stick around for awhile!” And he’s holding events where “four-more years” gets shouted, and so on, even though Arizona certified its election results, further cementing Joe Biden’s POTUS victory. There’s no telling whether Trump will truly refuse to leave or if he’s simply suckering the MAGA crowd into more “legal fund” donations. One thing is certain: Trump will not exit gracefully, and the dominoes of supporters are (slowly) starting to fall.
Prominent conservative talk-show host Michael Medved (author of God’s Hand On America: Divine Providence in the Modern Era) certainly sees the writing on the wall. And he knows that there’s no way to talk sense into Trump, but he’s hoping that Mike Pence will (finally) go a different way. In an opinion column for USA Today, Medved whipped out the term “orange overlord.” Yes, he did. He also urged Pence to warmly welcome Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, to the official VP residence (at the Naval Observatory), quite like Joe Biden did in 2016 for the Pence fam. Mostly though, Medved urged a departure from Trump’s tantrums, which he believes that Pence can pull off to start healing a badly wounded nation:
To turn up to honor Biden’s assumption of power would also provide a personal declaration of independence from Trump’s angry, ugly obsessions.
For four years, Pence defended the president at every turn, but as the Orange Overlord leaves office, he must become his own man at last. With Trump openly musing over his own potential candidacy for a triumphant 2024 return, and with other allies and family members available as more logical heirs to Trumpism, Pence would preserve, rather than damage, a potential run of his own by displaying dignity and class to conclude his vice presidency.
It’s still stunning that such a column needed to be written at all, but yep, Medved is calling upon Pence to do the graceful thing because the leader of the administration definitely won’t. “A platform appearance by the departing VP might be criticized as shallow symbolism,” the host argues, “But at a time of poisonous polarization, healing gestures can only help.” In 2020, we’ll all take what peace we can get.
(Via USA Today)