Pence’s Repeated Denials On Ukraine Provoke Outrage

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Vice President Mike Pence’s performance Wednesday, when he insisted that President Donald Trump did nothing wrong during a July call with the Ukrainian President, was so shameless as to provoke reactions from a wide range of political observers.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Pence urged people to read the White House memo of the Zelensky-Trump call, while denying what its contents clearly spell out.

“I don’t believe that’s the case,” Pence said to a reporter who asked about Trump asking China to investigate the Bidens on live television. “The American people should read the transcript and they will see that the President did nothing wrong — there was no pressure there, was no quid pro quo.”

In fact, the memo released by the White House clearly spells out Trump asking Zelensky for a “favor,” mentioning the Bidens by name.

Pence has good reason for blindly defending the President — his horse is tightly harnessed to Trump’s wagon in this whole scandal, as Pence reportedly personally met with Zelensky to tell him that military aid would be withheld until Trump was assured that he’d root out “corruption” – clearly a nod to Trump’s plea for help manufacturing dirt on Joe Biden.

However, Pence’s efforts at self preservation failed to please some:

A CNN commenter:

A Washington Post columnist:

And an entire segment from a baffled Anderson Cooper:

Latest News
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: