Mike Pence has clearly given up

| 7:07 pm EST December 11, 2018
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Donald Trump is having one of the worst weeks that any American politician has ever had. Suddenly the national discussion surrounding him involves words like impeachment, resignation, indictment, and prison. But in his own way, Mike Pence is having a rather brutal week as well – and it showed today when he finally surfaced in public.

Last Tuesday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller made a point of not redacting the portions of the Michael Flynn sentencing memo that related to the crimes of the Trump transition team. Mike Pence was the head of that transition team, and it looked like Mueller was sending Pence a signal that he’s got him nailed. Then just days later, Pence’s Chief of Staff unexpectedly announced he was resigning. Interpret all of that however you like, but Pence’s behavior today suggested that he’s interpreted it as his own impending demise.

Mike Pence sat next to Donald Trump today during the press conference with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Even as the rest of them went after each other in hostile fashion, Pence just sat there. It was enough to ask if perhaps Trump had shown up with a Mike Pence wax dummy as a prank. Then Pence closed his eyes, and kept them closed. This prompted too many “Weekend at Bernie’s” jokes on social media to count.

Mike Pence clearly didn’t want to be there today as Donald Trump humiliated himself. But in these kinds of situations, Pence usually tries to passively stick up for Trump, or at least tries to act like he’s alive and has a pulse. Pence clearly had bigger and more troubling things on his mind. Pence thought he’d inherit the presidency, and now it looks more like he’ll end up indicted. Best we can tell, he’s simply given up.