When Russia invaded Ukraine almost three years ago to the day, globalist elites and establishmentarians aligned with Volodymyr Zelensky, against critical-thinking, common-sense Americans. Former vice president Mike Pence threw in with that establishment in direct opposition to the national interest. The mainstream media also echoed the pro-Ukraine narratives ― quite persistently.
Pence apparently hasn’t changed his stance. Following a broad statement from Trump about the Ukraine war, the president stated, “You should have never started it,” in response to Zelensky’s reaction to being iced out of his role in negotiations. Pence pounced on Trump’s words almost immediately, as if it is at all relevant right now. Trump is well aware of how the war started, and Pence has descended into a game of “gotcha” with Trump, just as the rest of the media establishment.
Ever since the beginning of the war, Donald Trump has insisted that it never would have taken place had he been president. Today, he’s pointed out that America has spent “$350 billion” on the Ukraine war effort. Say what you want — based on how the war’s going, that was a bad investment.
Since 2022, estimated casualties on both sides stand at nearly one million people (dead and wounded). Yet the mainstream media establishment narratives continue to be supportive of Ukraine and the war. As such, they continue their implied alliance with Pence.
The war in Ukraine has also birthed a civil war of propaganda inside America. Trump has placed Zelensky in the crosshairs of his rhetoric on the subject. At one point, he suggested Zelensky’s approval rating is “down at four percent” without citing a specific poll. He also said that Ukraine started the war.
The mainstream media dutifully pounce, pointing to Trump’s supposed disregard for facts or failure to understand the issues. As we have learned, Trump is not above trolling media types. In so doing, he often exposes them. In many cases, he ends up being proven correct later. In this case, the media narratives downplay or outright ignore the cost of the war, whether in terms of dollars or lives. Instead, they reveal a near obsession with trapping Trump in his words.
Meanwhile, Trump is working to end the war, by all accounts. Like Pence, the establishment media apparatus is not happy about it.
That would seem to constitute misplaced priorities at best and media malpractice at worst.
Pence may be another matter, but he’s also aligned with these sentiments. His criticism of Trump has been consistent when it comes to Ukraine. Trump has been in office for one month and is making significant process relative to ending the war.
Yet, even earlier this month, Pence is more concerned with grammatical “gotcha” moments than he is with ending the war. When Trump commented that “Ukraine may be Russia someday,” Pence pounced again and brought with him a dose of fear-mongering.
Since its creation, the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has become an increasingly less necessary entity. If anything, it has expanded and become far more bureaucratic. It might even be a target for DOGE, but that’s another commentary.
Nonetheless, Pence whipped out that tired trope about how Russia will invade a “NATO ally” if it is permitted to take Ukraine. What Pence doesn’t tell you is that Ukraine is not part of NATO, so there is no real basis for making that claim.
There is a phrase in politics that refers to the “dead cat bounce,” which is a reference to a seemingly major event having little to no effect on a particular side. In this case, the Pence pounce continues to have a negative impact on public opinion.
Yet he just keeps on doing it.
Todd Baumann is the director of operations for Special Guests Publicity. www.specialguests.com.
Image: Michael Vadon via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
