MIKE PENCE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Mike Pence’s official role is vice president of the United States. But, unofficially, he’s the president of a very important group within the White House: Donald Trump’s fan club. Trump likes to surround himself with people who adore him — and don’t mind speaking, sometimes at length, of their admiration and respect for the boss man. But, no one does it quite like Pence. He is the Picasso of the platitude, the Kandinsky of kissing up. And the praise is always delivered with the same knowing smile and this-really-comes-from-the-heart tone. It’s why — or a big part of why — Pence has never really run afoul of Trump in a major and public way. He knows that Trump wants to be praised at all times. And he is happy to oblige…Does Pence etching Trump into Israel’s Mount Rushmore on Monday [5-14-18] night have anything to do with the fact that The New York Times published a story just hours before the vice president spoke detailing the rising tensions in the White House over Pence’s aggressive political operation? Many people are saying that. Regardless of Pence’s reason for Monday’s encomium to Trump, it is far from an isolated incident. Pence lauds Trump at every turn for a simple reason: His political future — AKA being president — is inextricably linked to being seen by Trump and Trump’s supporters as the natural heir to the movement the president built in 2016.”
-Chris Cillizza, “Mike Pence’s Mount Rushmore: Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 15, 2018 11:26 am