Trump on Dumping VP Pence, but Needing the Evangelicals

This TYT video is worth a watch for their analysis of whether Trump is considering dumping Pence from his ticket. It turns out that Trump has discussed this with his aides, wondering whether a female running mate would be a better option.

There is no doubt about it, Pence has been quiet of late and isn't often seen with the President. Before I found out about this, I was wondering whether (unsurprisingly) there was a really strained relationship between them right now.

Pence is the ultimate moral compromiser - I don't see how any evangelical can support Trump, let alone act as his VP...

But a hugely important part of the video concerned the quote from Trump that he made to FOX:

Before speaking to the Faith & Freedom Coalition, Trump, told FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria that ⁦@VP⁩ is “100%” his running mate. “We have tremendous evangelical support” he said. “You can’t break up a team like that...We get along well together.” pic.twitter.com/5qtcbdNWr4— Maureen Groppe (@mgroppe) June 26, 2019

This really shows a number of things. I mean, this is really a case of Trump blurting out his inner thoughts. His view is perfectly reasonable, but you don't express that explicitly in such a manner. Asked about Pence, he adds, "Yes, we won. We won together. We have tremendous evangelical support."

In other words, Trump's support and regard for Pence is seemingly dependent on the fact that Pence garners the support from a core demographic. With white evangelical support, he would be destroyed at the ballot box. It is this group to which he is tenuously grabbing hold, desperate to appease.

Trump knows this dependency. To mention this offhand means that this is front and centre of his consciousness. There is an open admission that he absolutely needs that demographic and this must be what is motivating his behaviour and speeches.

Because, for Trump, there is no ideology. There is just perpetuation.