Vice President Mike Pence told swing-state voters Wednesday that liberals are trying to “run down” the Republican ticket because they fear a weak hand in 2020, offering a display of loyalty as the House voted to impeach President Trump.
Mr. Pence would become president if Mr. Trump were ousted, though the vice president wasn’t having it, dubbing Democratic efforts a “disgrace.”
“They’re trying to run down this president because they know they can’t run against our record,” he told supporters at a “Workers for Trump” event in Saginaw, Michigan. “They’re pushing this partisan impeachment because they know they can’t stop you from giving President Donald Trump four more years in the White House.”
Mr. Pence toured Michigan hours before Mr. Trump landed in the Wolverine State for a campaign rally that served as a public rejoinder to the impeachment vote. The Senate is eyeing a trial in January, though majority Republicans already say the House’s case is flimsy and that Mr. Trump will not be removed.”Today’s vote in the House of Representatives is a disgrace,” Mr. Pence said. “It sets a dangerous precedent.”
Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump seem like an odd couple — one’s a genial Midwesterner with neatly cropped hair, a devout Christian faith and a squinty gaze, while the other is an elbows-out New Yorker with an occasional potty mouth at the lectern.
Yet Mr. Pence isn’t leaving any daylight between himself and the No. 1 in the White House, as they prep for a rock ’em-sock ’em 2020 campaign.
Mr. Pence shuttled to the Saginaw event in a coach bus that features a large image of him standing side by side with Mr. Trump.
The pair won Michigan in 2016 by a slim margin. It is among six electoral vote-rich states that pro-Trump operatives are desperate to win again.
“Hello Michigan! And Merry Christmas,” Mr. Pence told cheering attendees. “Thank you for being here on a blustery Michigan day, and a day when there’s a lot of bluster in D.C. as well.”
While Mr. Pence toured, the House was debating articles of impeachment that say Mr. Trump abused his office by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to assist investigations that could benefit him politically. Democrats also say he obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with their probe into the administration’s hold on military aid to Kyiv.
Mr. Pence accused Democrats of running a “sham investigation” that seeks to overturn the will of voters who selected the GOP ticket in 2016, even as House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler scolded a Republican who made a similar argument on the chamber floor.
“If President Trump is impeached and removed, the new president would be Mike Pence, not Hillary Clinton,” said Mr. Nadler, New York Democrat.
Mr. Pence said it is illogical for anyone to seek impeachment. He rattled off Mr. Trump’s greatest hits, from demanding more military funding to nominating a slate of “principled conservatives” to federal appeals courts. He cited the soaring stock market, progress on the president’s signature border wall and a U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that would bolster automotive workers’ wages.
Mr. Pence said the White House deserves full credit for the USMCA, as Democrats cite concessions from the administration.
“Make no mistake about it, Michigan,” Mr. Pence said. “When it comes to the USMCA, President Donald Trump got it done.”
The Trump campaign organized the Saginaw event with help from Terry Bowman, chairman of the Workers for Trump Coalition. The chairman invited rank-and-file labor union members to the event.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Pence’s office slammed House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff for his handling of the whistleblower complaint that started the impeachment inquiry. Particularly, his aides recounted instances in which Mr. Schiff suggested the whistleblower would testify at some point.
Mr. Schiff recently accused Mr. Pence of potentially misleading his panel about a conversation the vice president had with Mr. Zelensky.
Mr. Schiff wants Mr. Pence to declassify information from the Sept. 18 call.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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