Donald Trump is finally securing the presidency he’s always wanted: He rallies the people. Mike Pence governs them.
As Trump prepares to decamp to his oceanfront club in West Palm Beach this weekend, surrounded by GOP donors and top aides, the vice president will travel to Florida for a Saturday meeting with cruise ship operators about the rapidly evolving coronavirus crisis. The striking split-screen view that has played out this week and will continue in Florida — of a president dispensing questionable theories about the virus and prioritizing his 2020 campaign, while his hyper-focused deputy tackles a life-or-death problem of governance — has put a longstanding Trump practice in its starkest relief yet.
It’s a price those in Trump’s orbit often pay for access to him and his devoted base: If they do the heavy lifting and allow him to take credit, they remain in his good graces.
Trump’s own son Donald Trump Jr. once offered ex-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, then a top rival of his father’s in the 2016 GOP primary, a chance to become the most powerful vice president in U.S. history if he agreed to take the lead on domestic and foreign policy and let Trump handle the rest. Kasich declined the offer, opening the door for Pence to add his name to Trump’s ticket and face his turn taking charge of an unfortunate issue while the president handles the broad strokes messaging.
That moment arrived last week. Trump entrusted his vice president with fighting coronavirus as head of the government’s coronavirus task force, then hit the campaign trail for rallies in the Carolinas and a rowdy speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in between....
Meanwhile, Pence canceled a string of campaign appearances in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Carolina this week to tend to states that are grappling with multiple cases of the virus and reassure Americans the outbreak is under control.
On Thursday, the vice president traveled to a Minneapolis business that manufactures N95 respirators, a type of facemask that can protect health care workers from coronavirus patients, and visit Washington state, where coronavirus deaths reached double digits this week, to meet with Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and other local officials. Prior to departing the White House for a televised town hall in Pennsylvania, Trump spent his day tweeting more than a dozen times about 2020 Democrats, his approval rating, Super Tuesday results and so-called sanctuary cities.
The side-by-side view was magnified by Pence’s daily updates from the White House briefing room, where he and a team of infectious disease experts and Cabinet personnel calmly responded to questions about containment efforts, test-kit availability and the overall threat of the virus.
“Those of us paying attention saw two things on TV this week: Mike Pence doing his best to provide answers and reassurance, and Donald Trump sharing his ‘hunch’ about the severity of this virus,” said one person close to the White House, referring to a comment Trump made during a Wednesday night interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
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Still, the vice president has made a habit of showering his boss with effusive praise during his task force updates, in addition to mentioning items he knows Trump pays attention to —suggesting Pence is keenly aware of the president’s sensitivities.
“I’m going to stay focused on the task the president gave me — and I promise you it’s what the president is focused on — and that’s the health and safety of the American people. We had a big day on Wall Street yesterday. I think it set a record,” Pence told reporters on Tuesday.
One former White House official said the vice president quickly learned that Trump responds well to flattery and now incorporates it nearly every time he speaks.
“If you look at Pence’s remarks — and it doesn’t matter if he’s speaking on something big or small — one of the first things he always does is to highlight the president’s actions and the president’s leadership,” the official said.
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The president will also travel to the Nashville area on Friday to meet with local officials following a series of deadly tornadoes that ravaged Music City and its suburbs earlier this week. Still, Trump is slated to spend three nights this weekend at his south Florida retreat, Mar-a-Lago, where he is known to socialize with club members and their guests and golf at his nearby club.
Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant who runs a firm in California, which is also being shaken by coronavirus cases, said Trump currently faces his own optics challenge as he campaigns across the country. Whereas Pence must avoid overshadowing the president, who is notoriously sensitive about his own brand, Trump can’t afford to appear lackadaisical in the midst of a public health crisis — much less, one that could have long-lasting impacts on the U.S. economy and psyche.
