Pence wants to run in 2024, and a pardoned Trump also wants to run in 2024. Ford paid the price of his pardon in the next election.

@1of5 Trump can't pardon himself. He can't expose himself to criminal liability. Pence will do it off he's told to. Trump could say he's resigning because he was wronged by having the election stolen from him. Pence wouldn't run against Trump, he'd lose and he'd be off the ticket. These Trump supporters wouldn't care that he got a pardon. They don't care about anything he does.

@barjoe he's been asking about a self pardon since 2017. Why wouldn't he try it? Its not like he's ever felt constrained by the law or any norms, for that matter. A self pardon would end up at the SC in short order, which he stacked. His odds are good there, as long as Rudy isn't lead attorney.

Why would Pence agree to this? So he can be Trumps VP again, at best? He's got presidential aspirations, has seen first hand just how far Trumps loyalty goes, and is getting on in years himself. Trump will be, if not in jail, a primary opponent. Plus doing this would require Trump to trust Pence, and Trump trusts only family.

@1of5 We shall see. I think Pence is an empty suit, he kind of knows it. Self pardon will be a mistake, things can change with the Supreme Court. People die.

@barjoe the constitution does not prevent him from pardoning himself - only the legal concept that one cannot be ones own judge. With a SC packed with origanalists and nothing in the constitution explicitly forbidding it I'd say his chances aren't actually that bad - thats how fucked up I think the court is.

Trump won't resign, they'd use the "under anesthesia for a routine procedure" temporary transfer of power shtick - unless Pence runs his own coup and convinces enough folks to enact the 25th ammendment due to Trumps current behavior. Then all bets are off

Pence is an empty suit but that hasn't stopped him from becoming the VP.

@1of5 It didn't stop Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle from becoming vice president.

@barjoe or Trump from becoming president.