Politico reports that Donald Trump and Mike Pence seem to have
divided up the chores.
Donald Trump is finally securing the presidency he’s always wanted: He rallies the people. Mike Pence governs them.
As Trump prepares to decamp to his oceanfront club in West Palm Beach this weekend, surrounded by GOP donors and top aides, the vice president will travel to Florida for a Saturday meeting with cruise ship operators about the rapidly evolving coronavirus crisis. The striking split-screen view that has played out this week and will continue in Florida — of a president dispensing questionable theories about the virus and prioritizing his 2020 campaign, while his hyper-focused deputy tackles a life-or-death problem of governance — has put a longstanding Trump practice in its starkest relief yet.
I'm not sure I'd describe what Pence is doing as "governing," nor am I certain he's "hyper-focused," although he's clearly taking this crisis much more seriously than the president is. (That's a low bar to clear, of course.) But read on.
Trump entrusted his vice president with fighting coronavirus as head of the government’s coronavirus task force, then hit the campaign trail for rallies in the Carolinas and a rowdy speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in between.
... On Thursday, the vice president traveled to a Minneapolis business that manufactures N95 respirators, a type of facemask that can protect health care workers from coronavirus patients, and visit Washington state, where coronavirus deaths reached double digits this week, to meet with Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and other local officials. Prior to departing the White House for a televised town hall in Pennsylvania, Trump spent his day tweeting more than a dozen times about 2020 Democrats, his approval rating, Super Tuesday results and so-called sanctuary cities.
... On Wednesday, Pence was dispatched to Capitol Hill to assure lawmakers — some of whom have criticized the administration for being slow to respond to coronavirus — that the administration has the outbreak under control.
... When he arrives in Florida late Friday, Trump is expected to address members of the Republican National Committee’s finance team at the party’s spring meeting, according to a person familiar with the meeting. He will also headline a series of fundraisers throughout the weekend for his reelection effort....
Isn't this what a lot of marriages are like? The woman doing all the difficult tasks, while the man struts around and does what he esnjoys doing, all while proclaiming himself the king of the castle? Oh, and while she's doing all the drudgework, the wife makes sure to soothe the husband's fragile ego.
... the vice president has made a habit of showering his boss with effusive praise during his task force updates, in addition to mentioning items he knows Trump pays attention to —suggesting Pence is keenly aware of the president’s sensitivities.
... One former White House official said the vice president quickly learned that Trump responds well to flattery and now incorporates it nearly every time he speaks.
Melania and Ivanka have split the job of First Lady, but Pence seems to be Trump's fourth wife -- someone who's supposed to take care of everything Trump can't be bothered with while making him look like a manly alpha. I imagine a lot of you think Trump will dump Pence, but why would he? Ivanka and Nikki Haley look out for themselves. Pence doesn't. Why bother to switch?
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