Pence’s Decision
After three years and eleven months of walking on eggshells and tiptoeing around his boss’ enormous ego, Mike Pence had finally reached his breaking point. None of the meek agreements nor subtle flattery had worked — there he was, being cussed out by the president.
“You can either go down in history as a patriot, or you can go down in history as a p*ssy,” former President Trump told the Vice President the night before the latter would go to the Capitol to oversee the final electoral count (according to an unnamed source inside the room). Trump was furious that Pence had refused to try to overturn the election, even though he formally had no power to. Pence, as the president of the Senate, could only preside over Congress' certification of the results, but could not intervene.
The loyal right-hand man faced a choice he could not avoid: either agree to Trump’s demands, which would only delay the final decision, or confirm Biden’s victory on national television. He chose to uphold the Constitution, despite the wrath of his boss and the mob. Even through the chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” at the Capitol riot on January 6th. Even though he would lose the support of the Republicans whose votes he once hoped to secure for the next presidential election.
Many people breathed a sigh of relief, thanking Pence for adhering to the Constitution and putting his moral values over his political future. However, he shouldn’t be praised for not doing something he was never legally able to do. (And if telling the truth ruins his political future, he’s in the wrong party!)
Every day, all across America, ordinary men and women do their duties faithfully. They receive no cheers, no pats on the back. Pence should not be praised either for simply following his duty under the Constitution and refusing to break the law. After all, when he was sworn in as VP in 2016, he pledged an oath to the American people, not to the President.
People may argue that he deserves praise because he had to endure torrents of abuse from the President, threats to the life of himself and his family, and an end to his political aspirations in order to follow the law. However, it’s worth noting that he agreed to be VP with Trump for personal gain. He supported the demagogue in every other cruel and nonsensical act carried out, and choosing to do the right thing after being a sycophant for four years does not say much about his ethics. A choice between honouring his legal and ethical obligation and caving in to the illegal whims of the President is not a difficult one at all. Furthermore, if he were authorized to invalidate the election results, he likely would have done so. Realistically, after four years of acting as the dummy to Trump’s ventriloquist, Pence would have continued to follow Trump’s leadership and stay out of his bad graces if disputing the outcome would not have resulted in consequences — certainly he would not have behaved morally.
Jessie Chen is a sophomore studying at the University of Toronto Schools. Outside of writing for her school newspaper, Cuspidor, she enjoys composing primarily poetry and opinion editorials. In her free time, she likes to fence, bake, and draw.
