After former Vice President Mike Pence took his book tour to a CNN town hall with Jake Tapper, law enforcement analyst and former member of the Metropolitan Police Department Michael Fanone joined CNN Tonight to react and call Pence “a coward.”
Host Laura Coates asked about the praise Pence has received for not buying argument that he the power to reject certified electoral votes, “I mean, it’s emotional to think about, the idea of it. I mean, we saw a woman in the audience that day, today, thanking him for what he had done. Do you think he's deserving of that? I can see the impact it continues to have.”
Fanone wasn’t buying it “listen, Mike Pence is a coward. You know, on January 6th, he was reaching out to legal scholars and former vice presidents, trying to find any way that he possibly could to postpone the results or to somehow overturn the election results to favor Donald Trump. And when they gave him no way out, he finally found the ‘courage’ to do his constitutional duty and, you know, uphold the results of the free and fair election.”
By reaching out to scholars and previous vice presidents, Pence was able to show that it wasn’t just one man’s opinion or that he lacked courage to overturn the results hand Trump a victory.
Still, Fanone also claimed, “And then in the immediate aftermath, he, like many other Republicans, has come to the defense of Donald Trump even though he was there on the Capitol grounds, his family was placed in grave danger.”
So, Mike Pence and his family were in grave danger, yet he refused to flee and he’s still a coward? Fanone also somehow managed to ignore the point that the main reason Pence is on this book tour is not because he is defending Trump, but criticizing him.
Coates followed up by asking, “I mean, today he did talk about the idea that in his private conversations with the former president, that he was remorseful. That was the word he used, that he was very remorseful in that moment. Did you buy that?”
Again, Fanone condemned Pence, “No. I think he's lying.” After Coates asked why he would do that, Fanone continued:
Well, number one, he wants to be president. And I think that this is -- you know, he doesn't want to anger Trump supporters. He wants to present himself as an alternative to Donald Trump whose reputation may have been so damaged by his participation in the January 6th insurrection. That he could come along and pick up those voters and carry the MAGA torch on to 2024 and further. You know, this is not a person who has the courage or moral and ethical fortitude to distance himself from a president who has caused so much harm to so many people in this country.
The natural question is what Pence could do to satisfy Fanone, because it is not a serious demand for all Republicans to abandon all they believe and endorse Democrats like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have done, but that seems to be what the media wants.
This segment was sponsored by Oral-B.
Here is a transcript for the November 16 show:
CNN Tonight
11/16/20022
11:54 PM ET
LAURA COATES: I mean, it’s emotional to think about, the idea of it. I mean, we saw a woman in the audience that day, today, thanking him for what he had done. Do you think he's deserving of that? I can see the impact it continues to have.
MICHAEL FANONE: Mike, listen, Mike Pence is a coward. You know, on January 6th, he was reaching out to legal scholars and former vice presidents, trying to find any way that he possibly could to postpone the results or to somehow overturn the election results to favor Donald Trump. And when they gave him no way out, he finally found the “courage” to do his constitutional duty and, you know, uphold the results of the free and fair election.
And then in the immediate aftermath, he, like many other Republicans, has come to the defense of Donald Trump even though he was there on the Capitol grounds, his family was placed in grave danger.
COATES: I mean, today he did talk about the idea that in his private conversations with the former president, that he was remorseful. That was the word he used, that he was very remorseful in that moment. Did you buy that?
FANONE: No. I think he's lying.
COATES: Why would he lie?
FANONE: I don’t believe-- well, number one, he wants to be president. And I think that this is -- you know, he doesn't want to anger Trump supporters. He wants to present himself as an alternative to Donald Trump whose reputation may have been so damaged by his participation in the January 6th insurrection. That he could come along and pick up those voters and carry the MAGA torch on to 2024 and further.
You know, this is not a person who has the courage or moral and ethical fortitude to distance himself from a president who has caused so much harm to so many people in this country.
