MIKE PENCE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Not since the release of the Access Hollywood tape, in which Donald Trump bragged about groping women by the genitals, have some conservatives thought so seriously, if a bit wistfully, about two words: President Pence.
The scandals clouding Trump’s presidency — including, most recently, his firing of FBI Director James Comey, his alleged leak of classified information to Russian officials, and reports that he urged Comey to drop an investigation into a top aide — have raised once more the possibility that Trump could be pushed aside and replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.
‘If what the [New York Times] reported is true, Pence is probably rehearsing,’ one House Republican who asked not to be named quipped Wednesday [5-17-17]. ‘It’s just like Nixon. From the standpoint that it’s never the underlying issue, it is always the cover-up.’
The still far-fetched proposition of removing Trump from office has increasing appeal to Republicans who are growing weary of defending Trump and are alarmed by his conduct in office. But such whispers are cringe-worthy for Pence and his aides, who have made an art of not upstaging the mercurial president. Pence’s press secretary declined to comment for this article.”
-Matthew Nussbaum and Theodoric Meyer, “Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence,” Politico, May 17, 2017 6:50pm