The real reason Mike Pence melted down

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We’ve seen Mike Pence debate before. He’s arrogant, dishonest, and condescending. But he’s not a serial interruptor. Pence is the kind of creep who uses the false pretense of manners in order to get away with being a complete ass. Yet last night he made a point of interrupting Kamala Harris about fifteen times, while running his mouth as incessantly and rudely as possible. This was new for Pence.

Here’s the thing. Mike Pence was clearly trying to emulate Donald Trump’s debate performance from last week. But Trump’s performance was an abject failure that cost him in the polls, and for all of Pence’s derangement, he knows enough about politics to understand that. So why would Pence go so far out of his way to use a strategy that he knew would play poorly?

Logically speaking, there’s only one explanation: Donald Trump instructed Mike Pence to behave that way. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Trump did it because he honestly thinks this is a solid strategy and he’s too insulated to be aware that it cost him when he tried it, or if Trump doesn’t care about consequences and is simply in burn it all down mode.

But either way, Donald Trump is indeed burning it all down. And Mike Pence, who had to have known that his marching orders last night were going to result in a debate loss for him and a blown opportunity to try to make up ground in the polls, just went along with it. The people around Trump seem far more interested in keeping him happy, than in helping him. That’s a dangerous place to be in.