Apparently Vice President Mike Pence didn’t know anything, at any time, about any meetings between Donald Trump Jr. and the Russians. According to the vice president’s spokesman, he is “not focused on stories about the campaign—especially those pertaining to the time before he joined the campaign.”
Pence hadn’t even endorsed Trump before the president’s eldest son, his former campaign chairman, and his son-in-law, met with a Russian lawyer to find a way to collude with the Kremlin. He was still governor of Indiana.
When Trump Jr. was sitting down with the Russians on June 9, Pence was at a Johnson County Walmart, hosting a “Feed ‘em for Freedom” to benefit military veterans. At that time, the Hoosier was not associated with the Trump campaign.
But if Pence knew of the meeting, if he knew about Trump Jr.’s contact with Russians, one wonders if the straight-laced, silver-haired, Midwestern governor would have accepted the job?
Things were still a bit sour between the future presidential duo back then. Pence had just backed the wrong primary horse in his own state, endorsing Ted Cruz on April 29. And he didn’t even begin interviewing for the vice presidency until July 2. Two weeks later, Pence was on the ticket.
In retrospect things seem like they’ve gone downhill ever since. Pence has loyally defended Trump again and again only to get hosed when all the facts come to light. He didn’t complain after facing the wolves during the Mike Flynn fiasco or after the Rod Rosenstein debacle. But something must have snapped on Tuesday.
I worked for two VPs — one in a WH facing impeachment. I’ve never seen any @VP statement that so distanced himself from the @POTUS. https://t.co/Qal4vRRluC
— Ronald Klain (@RonaldKlain) July 11, 2017
Ronald Klain, chief of staff for both Vice President Al Gore and Joe Biden, noticed it.
No one can argue that there’s a significant shift in the narrative. On national television in January, Pence told John Dickerson on CBS that “of course” there wasn’t any collusion. After being forced to eat his words again, perhaps Pence has lost his stomach for this administration.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
