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.
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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.
Source: A presidency of two for coronavirus: Trump hands his sidekick the job of a savior
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