Mike Pence denied knowing Donald Trump very well in a painful CNN interview as he stood in front of the actual bus that he figuratively threw his running mate beneath. CNN’s Chris Cuomo grilled the Republican vice presidential candidate: “…You said we can’t say that when he said what he said about Judge (Gonzalo) Curiel, not making it about the case but about his ethnicity, you condemned those comments. Why do you not condemn them now?” Pence denied that those widely reported statements were Trump’s actual positions, and denied even knowing the GOP nominee well enough to comment. “Look, you’ve known him for a long time, Chris – I haven’t known him that long at all,” Pence said.
“But, be that as it may, I have yet to hear a legitimate reason as to why Donald Trump is not eligible to be the President of the United States,” he continued. “I must say, despite what many are saying, in my mind Donald Trump won the presidential debate the other night. And I know how it sounds coming from me, just as I know that those same people are saying I won the vice-presidential debate. If that is indeed so, then my victory is only there to serve Donald Trump and make his victory more significant. Everything I do is in the service of the future president, especially since Trump is most likely to win.”
Pence also said, “And that’s what I don’t get, Chris – what would people have Donald Trump do in order to vote for him and believe that he’s exactly what this country needs? I don’t get it, is he supposed to stand on his nose or perform magic tricks? Should he go and part the Red Sea? I’m completely lost as to what sort of expectations he’s supposed to meet as the Republican presidential candidate. At the end of the day, what’s the worst that could happen if he wins? What, is he going to start a war with someone he’s not supposed to? Tell me, Chris, because I just don’t get it anymore,” Pence got riled up.
The governor of Indiana then argued that, despite the well-known fact that he used to be an avid Ted Cruz supporter, “it doesn’t matter who the Republican presidential candidate is as long as he’s Republican.” “And that’s the way we should all be thinking, including our rivals. And like I said, I haven’t known the man for a very long time, but from what I hear and see, he can pretty much hold his own and he doesn’t take any b.s. from anyone,” Trump’s running mate argued. “And deep down, I think every American citizen knows that that’s exactly the kind of president this country needs and deserves.”
“Besides, Chris, far be it for me to incite confrontation, but maybe it’s about time we remind the world what happens when you mess with America,” he said semi-seriously. “After all the ass-kissing and sucking up Obama has been doing during the last 8 years, I’m surprised his lips aren’t more swollen, even if he is half-black. Thanks to him, we’re considered a joke in international circles. Maybe we do need another Republican president who will follow in the footsteps of George Bush and shoot first and ask questions later. The only difference between Bush and Trump, though, is the latter would surely find a way to profit from it and then pay his dues to his country in the form of taxes. That is, after his latest tax fraud conundrum clears up,” he concluded.
