The humiliation of Mike Pence (Opinion)

Republican congressman asks Pence to ignore electoral college results 2:31

Editor's Note:

Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success."

He is also co-author, with Peter Eisner, of the book "High Crimes: The Corruption, Impunity, and Impeachment of Donald Trump."

The opinions expressed in this column belong to the author.

Read more op-ed at CNNe.com/opinion.

(CNN) ––

Vice President Mike Pence's humiliation, which has lasted for four years, is reaching a crescendo.

President Donald Trump, who lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden by more than seven million votes, is now reportedly pressuring Pence to take action aimed at overriding the will of the people.

Trump seems to think that the vice president could fulfill this task when Congress meets on January 6 to certify the election results.

• READ: ANALYSIS |

  Is this the Mike Pence moment?

Fortunately, the US Constitution does not provide Pence with any way to stop the process when he presides over the joint session of the House and Senate next week.

(Precisely, a process that Biden presided over four years ago when Trump's victory was certified).

However, Pence could support Republicans to make speeches that will delay the result.

Which will also increase the feeling, among Trump loyalists, that the president was misled into not being reelected.

In doing so, Pence could gamble on reclaiming his part in Trump's legacy, a populist base made up of millions, and thus gain a boost for his own political future.

So his seemingly masochistic commitment to the president might finally pay off.

To be fair, Pence's tenure as vice president has seemed like a continuing display of servility.

When he was not overly praising Trump and his political decisions, he stood by his side beaming.

Precisely with the kind of adoring expression that recalled Nancy Reagan's grateful gaze toward her husband, former President Ronald Reagan.

Pence: We will be “on the lookout” while the votes are counted 1:02

It's worth remembering that Pence was offered the vice president position, in part, because of his appeal to large numbers of evangelical voters.

A population that would feel calm with his presence next to the profane Trump, who has been married three times.

However, the sycophantic role would have been part of the deal for anyone who agreed to join the formula.

Always in the limelight, Trump never left room for someone else to be the protagonist.

Pence accepted and kept his commitment.

Even after the release of the "Access Hollywood" video, in which Trump brags about grabbing women's genitals.

With his proven, unshakable loyalty, Pence's fate was sealed.

Trump's defeat should have indicated that Pence's reward was near.

Namely, his own rise as the GOP's top presidential candidate in 2024. But instead, he has had to suffer a little more, as the press reports that Trump is angry at him for not working harder to overturn the elections.

According to the political news site Axios, Trump was enraged when the Lincoln Project posted a video saying that Pence was abandoning him.

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The video, viewed by 1.3 million people, begins with the words: “The end is near, Donald.

Even Mike Pence knows it. "

The piece ends with the message: “On January 6, Mike Pence will put the nail in your political coffin when he presides over the Senate vote to prove that Joe Biden won.

It's over, and Mike Pence knows it. "

Having served 12 years in Congress and four as governor of Indiana, Pence certainly knows how the electoral process works.

And also that he and Trump lost to Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Furthermore, four years as vice president surely taught him that, in the reality of the president, what matters now is who will join him in the bizarre effort to reverse the outcome.

And, despite the Lincoln Project announcement, Pence has still taken action to show his commitment to Trump.

Last week, the vice president flew to West Palm Beach, where he promised a crowd of young conservatives to “keep fighting until every legal vote is counted.

We will continue fighting until all the illegals are eliminated.

He also urged young voters to "stay in the fight" against voter fraud.

• LOOK: ANALYSIS |

  Why Donald Trump is already the favorite of the Republican Party for 2024

While pledging the president's unfounded cause and declaring that there was a battle to be won for the integrity of the election, Pence proved to be more or less equal to Trump.

This in regards to dark fantasies about the country's voting system.

Despite claims, many by Republicans, of voter fraud, that this happens is extremely rare.

And efforts to show that it exists in a generalized sense have failed.

Trump's commission on the issue found no evidence of significant fraud and was dissolved a year after its formation.

However, this verification did not remove the issue from the Republican agenda.

Republicans, especially Trump, kept peddling the fraud claim, and some people believe it.

Before the election, the Pew Research Center found that 43% of Republicans and 25% of all respondents believed that voter fraud was a real problem when people voted by mail.

After the election, according to an NPR / PBS New Hours / Marist poll, only a quarter of Republicans say they trust the election results.

Amid polls showing the fraud claims have worked, Pence continued to sell the false narrative.

Which only showed that he is as willing as Trump to perpetuate a fiction.

At least where it could also serve its political purpose.

Additionally, it reveals how much Pence values ​​Trump's loyalist base.

A base that, if measured by the votes cast in November, exceeds 74 million.

Although Trump has said that he is considering a candidacy in 2024, he has also said that he could move away from this idea, according to Politico.

This would make Pence one of the favorites for the next Republican ticket.

Under these circumstances, now is not the time to break the bond.

Pence, a man who regularly declares his faith, is not the type to become a political apostate.

Not with the paradise of the presidency in sight.

Pence's dogged commitment to his partner role may please certain Trump voters.

But it does not mean that the candidacy or the White House is his.

Just consider the campaign message that was displayed two months ago at an event in Nevada.

What did he say?

"Don Jr. 2024".

Donald Trump Mike Pence