Since the announcement of his candidacy in 2015, President Donald Trump has told falsehoods to the American people and betrayed the Constitution time and time again, never receiving any repercussions.
As of October, the President has made 13,435 misleading claims during his time in office, according to the Washington
However, with the occurrence and recent leak of the Ukraine scandal, impeachment hearing and eventual removal has become a possible scenario, and with it, so does the possibility of Mike Pence becoming president.
If Trump’s removal is successful, the role of president falls on current Vice President Mike Pence, according to Article two, Section one of the Constitution. If the American people were to receive this new leader, either now or during the elections of 2025, it is important to understand what the country will look like under the new circumstances.
However, throughout Trump’s presidency, Mike Pence has remained in the shadows, showing little of his personal political advocacy which leaves the question of what exactly the government would look like, ultimately unanswered.
“You look at [Pence] and the way he acts, the way he talks, and he seems like a normal politician,” Isabel Armstrong, President of Palo Alto High School’s Democrat’s Club, said. “He doesn’t tweet crazy things or he is just not as unique, for a lack of a better term, as Trump is.”
Pence began his political career in 1988 running for the House of Representatives in Indiana.
Although his political career got off to a rocky start, after being accused of using campaign funds for personal expenses in 1988 and running a negative campaign ad against his opponent in the 1990 House election, Pence was finally successful during the 2000 election.
During his 12 years as a House Representative, he introduced 90 bills and resolutions, none of which became law. It was not until 2013 when Mike Pence became the Governor of Indiana.
By looking back at his politics during his time as Indiana’s Governor, Pence’s political and social ideology displays itself to be extremely religiously driven.
Pence’s political and social ideology displays itself to be extremely religiously driven.
During his incumbency, Pence advocated and successfully passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana.
The bill’s purpose was to protect the free exercise of religion for individuals and coorporations, but also allowed for the discrimination against the LGBT community.
This meant businesses in Indiana were legally permitted to turn down customers based on their sexual orientation.
This bill also demonstrated the negative impact Pence had on at least one part of Indiana’s economy.
After it was established it was met with mass criticism from around the country, which resulted in big corporations, such as Salesforce, reducing their spending in the state in protest, according to a Huffington Post article from 2016. The state ended up spending over $2 million on a public relations firm to help rebuild its image.
This kind of politics, if it is brought with Pence to his potential presidency, could be detrimental to the Constitution, especially when it comes to his religion.
According to his critics, President Trump has ruled based on his own self-interest and presents himself as highly conservative, only to receive support from the Republican Party. This hypocrisy can be seen from the actions the president took before announcing his candidacy.
In 1989, Trump co-hosted a pro-choice fundraiser at the Plaza Hotel in New York, but his opinion drastically changed in 2015 when, during the first Republican debate, he said being pro-life was something he was “very, very proud” of.
Pence, however, is a is a religious zealot who wants his religion reflected through the law.
Even during Trump’s presidential campaign, Pence was quoted proclaiming himself as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order” during his acceptance of the Republican vice presidential nomination in 2016.
This makes it clear that the vice president has no interest in fighting for the separation of church and state, despite the Constitution’s restriction, according to an article from the civil rights non-profit organization Lambda Legal.
“There’s a fascist movement in this country, and a significant part of it which is not recognized is Christian fascism,”
—Barry Thornton, member of
Refuse Fascism
“There’s a fascist movement in this country, and a significant part of it which is not recognized is Christian fascism,” Barry Thornton, a member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Refuse Fascism told Anthro, “hard core fundamentalists, who a lot of them have an explicit agenda of ending the separation of church and state. Pence is in that camp.”
Refuse Fascism, is a national organization pushing for the removal of the entire Trump administration, or as they call it, the Trump and Pence Regime, and have been active since the president’s inauguration in 2016.
The group, who believe Trump and Pence to be fascist leaders, took to the streets in protest every Sunday for five weeks, beginning in October.
The protests took place simultaneously, in multiple destinations around the country, including San Francisco.
“Our slogan says Trump and Pence must go, and we are very serious about that,” Thornton said. “We mean more than simply Trump and Pence in that matter, there’s a whole bunch of really fascist people in the cabinet.”
Although Pence, for many, would in no way be the optimal president for this country, his time spent hiding behind Trump has proven to benefit his appearance in the public eye.
People might relax for a little bit and not be as aggressive,” Armstrong said. “Then, he might be able to achieve more action.”