Mike Pence has mostly kept quiet since Joe Biden’s win nearly two months back, clearly attempting to distance himself from his imploding former running mate while trying not to earn his ire. (The latter, some claim, hasn’t entirely worked.) But if he’s not quite a Trumpist, he’s still a Republican — a member of a party that tends to stick up for the rich while demonizing the poor. Sometimes Republican lawmakers say the quiet part loud. That’s what Pence did on Tuesday, when he tried to tarnish Democrats but only wound up making their policies seem humane.
Vice President Mike Pence: "[Democrats] want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable." pic.twitter.com/LXB8pvKSR8
— The Hill (@thehill) December 22, 2020
The outgoing vice president was speaking at a rally in Florida for Turing Point USA, the campus conservative organization run by twentysomething — and recent object of derision for Geraldo Rivera — Charlie Kirk. During Pence’s speech, he tried to tear down Democrats, saying they “want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable.”
But to many, it wasn’t the sick burn Pence seemed to think. In fact, many found themselves agreeing with him, perhaps for the very first time.
do go on
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/GrogsGamut/status/1341501945719136256
Yes.
Yes, they do.
— golrab of the frost (@corybarlog) December 22, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence: "[Democrats] want to make rich people poorer, and poor people more comfortable." pic.twitter.com/3VpZK7eVc6
— People Are People (@FantasyLeftover) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/cameron_kasky/status/1341511773418086406
is the second one bad? https://t.co/pr49mel1CS
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 22, 2020
If anything, some thought, Pence didn’t go far enough.
For starters. https://t.co/tR8ZZoN2A0
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) December 22, 2020
Some pointed out that many Democrats, sadly, do not believe in helping the poor more than the rich.
if only this were true https://t.co/7xREP3SCOi
— . (@swordsjew) December 22, 2020
Some pointed out the obvious: that thinking that privileging the rich over the poor was bad is, to put it mildly, weird.
how dare those poor people want to be….. comfortable
— Dana Schwartz – on hiatus (@DanaSchwartzzz) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1341485742401482755
https://twitter.com/Green_Footballs/status/1341484344540614656
And Scrooge-ian.
“Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” https://t.co/ceRue7dqbM
— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) December 22, 2020
And, perhaps most importantly, completely against the tenets of Pence’s faith, which he professes to hold dear.
https://twitter.com/JRehling/status/1341472902265229313
This sounds like the sort of thing you’d read in the Bible. https://t.co/WbwaHRduBD
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) December 22, 2020
As did Jesus https://t.co/SrmP2tS1YN
— Christine Pelosi (@sfpelosi) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/espiers/status/1341507123692396545
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. https://t.co/c9W6Lp0PPE— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) December 22, 2020
Ummmm isn’t that the basis of Christianity … which he apparently espouses ???? What a miserable soulless ghoul. I hope he chokes on all that money he’s accrued rubbing elbows with all those corrupt assh*les. https://t.co/GAtWQOGFp9
— Caitríona Balfe (@caitrionambalfe) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/ChuckWendig/status/1341483732818116614
In other news, Pence may not be going full Giuliani in trying to overturn the election, but he is suggesting that maybe there’s a chance.
Mike Pence, speaking before a packed audience during a pandemic at the Turning Point conference, is still pretending Trump could serve another term
(I apologize for the audio/video sync issue) pic.twitter.com/7pRdLVo8bM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 22, 2020
But the reality is the sitting vice president will soon, like too much of the country under his watch, be out of a job.
I see we're not bothering to say "fuck the poor" quietly anymore.
Also, as a rich(ish) person, making rich people pay a reasonable amount of taxes doesn't make them poorer; it barely makes them slightly less rich.
Anyway, this fool will be out of a job soon enough. Good. https://t.co/4SBgCbUiWU
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) December 22, 2020