Mike Pence’s Day-By-Day Account of Trump’s Pressure Campaign Against Him
Plus, Trump’s Vision of Two Americas.
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AMANDA CARPENTER: Mike Pence’s Day-By-Day Account of Trump’s Pressure Campaign Against Him.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has a lot to say in his new book, So Help Me God, about what he witnessed in the White House during the run-up to January 6th. So it’s peculiar he thinks Congress has “no right” to his testimony about those events.
Pence’s position about testifying is absurd, not least because his book contains insights he should have shared with Congress about the violent attempt to disrupt the peaceful transition of power following the 2020 election. Tucked inside what at first appears to be just another memoir from a politician with presidential ambitions is the revolting plot of a sitting president’s secret pressure campaign against his vice president. Pence’s book should not only be read as a messaging device for 2024; it should be read as evidence for the ongoing investigations into January 6th.
JOSHUA TAIT: The Growing Religious/Secular Rift on the Illiberal Right.
On the illiberal right, there’s a divide between religiously motivated conservatives and their secular allies. This divide will likely grow, and be felt at both the elite and popular levels. In one sense, this is not new: There has long been a religious/secular fault line in the conservative coalition. But as hypocritical as the religious right can be, religious—generally Christian—impulses have at times tempered American conservatism. Now, however, we already see signs of a cynical irreligious right and how its ideas and attitudes have infected politically minded believers.
The incoming House majority looks like it will repeat the patterns of ’94 and 2010 by heading into the fever swamps to indulge its coalition, rather than expand it. Plus, Trump isn’t the only one to blame for the midterms. David Frum joins Charlie Sykes on today’s pod.
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BILL LUEDERS: Trump’s Vision of Two Americas.
Last week, in announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Donald Trump presented his vision of two Americas. Both are entirely fictitious.
Vision number one is the utopia that exists whenever Trump is in power or is about to reclaim it. In a part of his address that was decidedly too articulate to have been ad libbed, Trump remembered how it used to be…
DALIBOR ROHAC: Understanding the Real Value of U.S. Financial Aid to Ukraine.
“Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene thundered at a Trump rally in Iowa before the midterm elections. While her position is extreme—and unpopular with the American public—many congressional Republicans share Kevin McCarthy’s hesitation over giving Ukrainians a “blank check” worth tens of billions of dollars. They are wrong. America’s generosity toward Ukraine is not a matter of charity. Military assistance to Ukraine keeps Russian aggression away from NATO’s borders. A Ukraine overrun by Russian forces would have made the alliance’s eastern flank more dangerous and costlier to defend.
🚨OVERTIME 🚨
Happy Tuesday! I’m still on the mend from COVID but getting a lot of sleep (thanks to the kindness of my wife.) If you’re still looking for some Thanksgiving recipes, especially if you have to stay at home because of COVID, we’ve got you covered.
Don’t count out Trump in 2024… Our friend Molly Jong-Fast writes in Vanity Fair.
Trenches in Chernobyl… What the Russian soldiers dug up in their invasion of Ukraine.
The US may have tied with Wales… But I did not know about this tradition.
The growing biz of in-law suites… Is taking hold in CA.
The Ancient Giza HOA… For a good laugh.
Merrick Garland goes on offense… On J6 and the Mar-a-Lago documents.
Knebworth 22: And Liam Gallagher.
Just call it fascism… A spade is a spade.
That’s it for me. Tech support questions? Email members@thebulwark.com. Questions for me? Respond to this message.
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Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
