Opinion: Mike Pence, this is your moment to rebuke Donald Trump - Olsen
Former president Donald Trump went beyond the pale — even for him — when he said this weekend that he might pardon the Jan. 6 rioters if reelected and reiterated his belief that as vice president, Mike Pence had the power to “overturn the election.” Pence has eschewed criticizing his former boss since leaving office. He should reconsider as he prepares his remarks for this week’s Republican National Committee meeting.
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Sooner or later, someone with stature has to take the lie head on. The longer party leaders wait, the more potential officeholders will have to defend the indefensible. The emperor has no clothes, but it takes someone with the courage to say it out loud to break the spell. Pence is the perfect person to do this, and his scheduled talk this week at the RNC’s winter meeting is the perfect place to pick up the gauntlet Trump has thrown down. Ultra-Trumpists may now despise Pence, but the vast majority of Republicans and GOP officeholders respect him. His courage while under immense pressure from Trump last year was laudatory, and his courage during and after the riot was immeasurable. As the person under direct attack from Trump, he is also the natural person to rebut Trump’s false claims.
He could start by explaining why he did not have the power to unilaterally disregard the will of electors from swing states. That would entail both a legal parsing of his constitutional and legal responsibilities and a clear defense of the rule of law. All of those states submitted slates of delegates according to state law, and no official alternative was submitted by a duly empowered state body. Thus, there was no dispute for Congress to resolve, the poorly written Electoral Count Act of 1887 notwithstanding. More importantly, he could start breaking down the lie that the 2020 election was perverted by massive voter fraud. He could state clearly and forthrightly that he — and by extension, Trump — lost.
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Pence would take a great risk to his own aspirations should he engage with Trump, but he continues to take a risk by not engaging. He cannot avoid making a clear statement on 2020’s legitimacy if he decides to run for president himself. Nor could he avoid the risk of alienating Trump’s acolytes with that statement. Better, then, to move first when he has the time to make his case. This also would give him the aura of bold action, a presidential prerequisite but not exactly a characteristic that normally applies to the cautious Hoosier.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/31/mike-pence-this-is-your-moment-rebuke-donald-trump
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