Mike Pence Falls Apart As Fox News Turns Against Trump Over Obama ISIS Comments

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:02 pm

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During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Mike Pence fell apart when confronted with the reliably conservative program turned on his running mate Donald Trump.

Video:

Transcript via Fox News Sunday:

WALLACE: You and he spent a day defending his remarks, saying that they were serious. Now, Trump says that he was being sarcastic.

So, Governor, which is it?

PENCE: Well, I think he was being very serious, and he was making a point that needs to be made, that there is no question that the failed policies of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in the wider Middle East, created a vacuum within Iraq in which ISIS was able to arise. There’s essentially no question —

WALLACE: So then why is he saying he was sarcastic?

PENCE: Well, he was making a very serious point, and look —

WALLACE: Forgive me, why did he say he was being sarcastic?

PENCE: Well, he was making a very serious point. Donald Trump has a way of talking to get people’s attention, and it’s drawn attention to a very important issue.

There was a time when any Democrat president knew where the buck stopped in the White House. And the responsibility for the failed policies in the Middle East that created the environment where ISIS developed belongs to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the American people know that.

WALLACE: Governor, those are all perfectly legitimate points to make, but that isn’t what Trump said. He said that Obama and Clinton were the most valuable players of ISIS, that they were the co-founders of ISIS. Then he said, well, I was just being sarcastic about that, just as he said he was just being sarcastic about inviting Russia to come in and release e-mails of Hillary Clinton’s.

Isn’t the sarcastic excuse getting a bit old?

PENCE: Well, no, I don’t think it’s getting old at all, Chris. Donald Trump made his way through a very competitive primary because he spoke not like your typical politician, but just plainly like an every day American. And speaking plainly is exactly what the American people will anticipate in the course of this election, but more importantly, they’re going to have a president who tells them exactly what’s on his mind, and the American people are going to hear and hear him loudly.

Gov. Pence was a deer in headlights during this interview as Fox News Sunday turned on his running mate on national television. Fox News personalities like Sean Hannity have been defending on a nightly basis, but the daytime programming has seen a noticeable change in tone on Trump.

Pence couldn’t defend Trump’s comments, and the line of questioning that Chris Wallace pursued on Fox News Sunday suggests that the reports that the Republican Party is preparing to dump Trump are credible. The tone of Fox News programming tends to follow the Republican Party.

Trump is clearly in trouble within the Republican Party. Fox News Sunday had let favored Republicans off the hook in the past when they didn’t want to answer a difficult question, so it is revealing that Chris Wallace wouldn’t let the Republican nominee for vice president off of the hook.

Fox News appears to be preparing their viewers for a big letdown. There is no talk of skewed polls on Fox this time around. Fox News isn’t repeating their 2012 attempt to create a false narrative of a Republican victory in November. Signs are growing that not only is the Republican Party preparing to dump Trump, but Fox News and Fox News Sunday are too.

Mike Pence was supposed to be the reason for Republicans to vote for Donald Trump, but Fox News Sunday just threw out Gov. Pence along with the Trump trash.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association