Mike Pence is rarely in Washington these days. The US Vice President prefers to wander the provinces to campaign. "The Democrats spend their entire time endlessly investigating," he shouted in Iowa recently. "This is the limit."
But even 1,600 kilometers from Washington, Pence could not escape the drama in the US capital: The reporters did not ask him about Iowa's agriculture, but immediately after the Ukrainian affair.
Whether he knew that Donald Trump had urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden, NBC correspondent Vaughn Hillyard wanted to know. "That's your question," Pence grumbled - without answering.
Almond Ngan / AFP
The faithful knight in the background: Trump with Pence (right)
He stuck to the official line: evasive, stilted, as if he were riding through a minefield. For nothing speaks Mike Pence as reluctant as about the impending impeachment proceedings against his boss, President Trump. After all, its outcome also affects him - and no version is nice for him:
- If Trump - which is unlikely to date - actually have to move out of the White House prematurely, Pence would, first, move up to the presidency. It is his lifelong ambition that could, under these circumstances, become a political nightmare.
- Secondly, Pence is also plunged into the sprawling whistleblower scandal - accused and condemned by Congress along with Trump. It would be the end of his career.
- Trump survives, third, struck an impeachment process, but loses the elections in 2020. With him disappeared his faithful knight Pence in the sinking.
So Pence continues to play the naive loyalist, a role he's perfected since Trump made him runner-up. But the Ukraine affair puts him in the quandary: either he actually has no idea - or he is a connoisseur. Either way, it seems increasingly questionable that he survives a fall Trump harmless.
Lorraine OSullivan / REUTERS
He does not want to say anything, does not know anything: Pence at the White House
Pence is more involved in the scandal than he wants to admit. Trump told him not to participate in the swearing in of Ukrainian President Selensky in May. It was not until September that he met with Selenskyj to represent Trump's demands on Ukraine. What has been discussed remains unclear. Under threat of punishment, the Democrats have now requested from Pence internal papers to clarify his role in the affair.
In one hand a tea party manifesto, in the other the Bible
So close to the finish, so close to the crash. The arch-conservative had not foreseen this turn of events, so meticulously planning his rise: Congressman, Governor of Indiana, Vice President - in one hand, a tea party manifesto, in the other the Bible.
Stramm right and stiff, with a shellac painting of decency that trumps off, Pence is the anti-Trump:
Trump flowers in chaos, Pence personifies stability.
Trump smashes the political china shop, Pence kittet Scherben.
Trump praises neo-Nazis, Pence assures the opposite.
Trump curses, Pence prays.
"Cast by Hollywood," says TV President Trump happy about the edgy look of his Vizes. Like an animatronic doll from the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World, Pence delivers the message of his master to the disciples of the republican base. Sometimes he winks, as if he were aware of the absurdity: the policy he represents is often the opposite of what he believes.
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Pence is pious, prudish, and refuses to be alone in a room with a wife other than his wife Karen. Trump is twice divorced and had many affairs, which he partly hushed. How does it fit together?
A devil pact, sealed on a golf course
It is a devil pact, sealed in a 2016 election campaign on a golf course, like so many Trump deals: Pence gave Trump the seal of approval of the Christian-conservative establishment, and Trump has since given Pence hope for higher consecrations.
For some, pence is not just the first second choice, but the better one. Especially because behind the smug smile a political professional hides. In Indiana, he was a merciless civil war warrior fighting abortion, LGBT rights and migrants. Trump's incompetence would effectively pull through Pence.
Which is why there have long been rumors that Pence Trump could replace the 2020 elections. Pence wanted to "stand by", if that opportunity offered, the New York Times reported two years ago citing Party circles.
Since then a lot has happened. So far, Pence has kept all the scandals in the background, but in the Ukraine affair it is increasingly difficult. It is already rumored that the scandal could also overthrow him, whether through impeachment or legal indictment - a fate that once threatened Richard Nixon's Vice President Spiro Agnew.
Should both Trump and Pence resign, the presidency would go to the next person in political succession. That would be the Speaker of the House of Representatives - the Democrat Nancy Pelosi.