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A new book about Vice President Mike Pence warns of his outsize ambitions for the Oval Office and his sense of righteous mission if he gets there. The book,The Shadow President, by veteran political journalists Michael DAntonio and Peter Eisner, promises to tell its readers, as its subtitle says, the truth about Mike Pence.

While the book gives little new insight about Pence for anyone who has been paying much attention to American politics recently, it has stirred up another round of one of the lamest arguments of the last two years: that America would be worse off with a President Pence in office than with President Donald Trump.

Are you sure you want to get rid of Trump?Frank Bruni provocatively askedin a July 28 New York Times column. There are problems with impeaching Donald Trump, Bruni contended. A big one is the holy terror waiting in the wings.

Thats a completely wrong assessment, but, sadly, not an uncommon one. Since Trumps inauguration, journalists and political commentators have produced a steady stream of warnings about how much more awful things could be under a Pence administration. The Danger of President Pence was Jane Mayers take in The New Yorker nearly a year ago. A few months later, Vanity Fair cautioned with Why President Pence Could Be More Terrifying Than Trump. And Rolling Stone weighed in with The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence.

Its not just liberal media outlets imagining the threat of a Pence presidency. Shortly after her unceremonious exit from the Trump White House, Omarosa Manigault-Newman told her castmates on the reality show Celebrity Big Brother, As bad as yall think Trump is ... we would be begging for days of Trump back if Pence became president.

Many Americans seem to agree. In an online (and admittedly unscientific) poll on The Tylt, 51.9 percent of respondents chose #PenceWouldBeWorse to 48.1 percent who selected #NoOneWorseThanTrump. Search Twitter for Pence worse than Trump and an unending cascade of excited tweets pours forth.

Granted, its always good practice for Americans to think seriously about what it would mean should a vice president have to assume the presidency. Forty-seven men had the role of VP before Pence. Nine of them found themselves unexpectedly promoted to the highest office in the nation after a death or resignation.

Those are nearly 1 in 5 odds. Considering Trumps mounting legal and political problems, the likelihood might be far greater that Pence becomes president without having to run for the office.

And no doubt, theres good reason for liberals and others to be concerned about a Pence presidency. As the governor of Indiana, he advanced an aggressively right-wing course on social issues that, even in that conservative state, many considered extreme. Both his critics and his friends depict him as obsessively focused on overturning abortion rights and banning same-sex marriage, pursuing those with a legendary passion that some say borders on fanaticism. Zealot is a word you come across a lot when you start to read accounts of his political career.

On matters of climate change, deregulation and taxes, Pence would be a vigorous hard-liner, pushing the extreme libertarian politics of Charles and David Koch, who seem to have a hold on the vice president.

But pretending this would amount to a greater danger than Trump poses to American democracy and global stability is foolish alarmism disguised as rational diagnosis. Unfortunately, its perfectly in line with the sort of nihilistic cynicism that has taken over American politics and not dissimilar to the pessimistic fatalism that Trump stokes and enjoys.

An outlook that cant distinguish the political challenge of a possible Pence presidency from the very real existential threat to the republic that Trump poses is useless for guarding against the disaster taking place in Washington right now.

The American presidency has never been inhabited by the likes of Donald Trump. He constantly and increasingly imperils our system of democracy. His flouting of the Constitution sets hazardous precedents that weaken the rule of law. His volatile and irrational temperament, combined with his disregard for international alliances and friendliness with autocrats and dictators, jeopardizes the safety of all of us.

Pences politics, while thoroughly conservative, fall in line with the basic Republican orthodoxy of the last 40 years. Thats an agenda worth resisting, for sure, but its one that Democrats will be well equipped even emboldened to block, especially if they claim a majority in the House this fall, as appears likely.

Regardless, it might be a political program that Pence wouldnt be able to put into effect. Amid all the handwringing and doomsday warnings over Pence, a curious fact stands out. Most of those profiles also make clear what a notoriously bad politician he has been. Writing in Rolling Stone, Stephen Rodrick described Penceas a politician with slow reflexes a blemish for a congressional backbencher, but a horrifying flaw for a potential president. DAntonio and Eisners book details Pences time in Indiana as a failing governor with no real political achievements to his name.

Americans should be heartened to know that even in deeply red Indiana, he faced dim prospects for re-election as governor after he bungled a bunch of issues, including his terrible handling of legislation that allowed businesses in the state to discriminate against gay customers. The national stage would surely be even less hospitable to a Pence agenda.

But far more important, an obsession with him diverts attention from the plain and urgent crisis before us.

Talking about how Pence would be worse than Trumps very grave dangers plays right into Trumps strategy of sowing chaos and confusion to hide his assault on the nation. Pences politics could be stopped or reversed through the normal processes of American politics. Trump is bent on destroying those normal processes.

Dont fall for it, America. The president we have now is the one to worry about.

Neil J. Young is a historian and the author ofWe Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics. He hosts the history podcast Past Present.

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No, President Mike Pence Would Not Be Worse Than Trump

Several top Trump administration officials have denied being the author of an explosive and anonymous opinion piece that detailed a quiet resistance at work in the White House, amid fevered speculation over the identity of the writer.

The anonymous account, published on Wednesday by the New York Times, was said to have been written by a senior White House official, who claimed a coalition was at work to frustrate Trumps agenda and his worst inclinations until he leaves, or can be removed from, office.

Vice-President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley were among a cast of senior officials and cabinet members to publicly reject responsibility for the anonymous account on Thursday.

The White House demanded that reporters abandon their wild obsession with unmasking the senior administration official who wrote the column.

The medias wild obsession with the identity of the anonymous coward is recklessly tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for the president, the White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders said in a statement on Thursday.

Sanders directed reporters to call the failing NYT and provided a phone number to the opinion desk. They are the only ones complicit in this deceitful act, she added.

First lady Melania Trump also responded, calling on the author to come forward and say publicly what he or she was willing to write anonymously.

If a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words and people have the right to be able to defend themselves, she said. To the writer of the op-ed you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions.

The president reacted with fury to the opinion piece. He fumed on Thursday in a tweet that the Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy & they dont know what to do.

The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds, Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen wrote in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday, as speculation swirled that the vice-president was involved in writing the piece. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.

Pompeo, who is visiting New Delhi, told reporters on Thursday: Its not mine after fevered speculation over who wrote the article seized Washington.

Pompeo said it shouldnt surprise anyone that the newspaper chose to print such a piece and if the piece actually was written by a top US official the outlet should not have chosen to take a disgruntled, deceptive, bad actors word for anything.

Pompeo accused the media of trying to undermine the Trump administration and says he finds it incredibly disturbing.

House speaker Paul Ryan called a press conference to say of the op-ed writer: Its a person who obviously is living in dishonesty. It doesnt help the president. If youre not interested in helping the president, you shouldnt work for the president.

Meanwhile, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, also issued a denial saying the speculation that he or his deputy wrote the op-ed was patently false.

No, Haley replied firmly, when asked by reporters if she wrote the opinion piece as she arrived at the United Nations on Thursday. A spokesman for the defense secretary, James Mattis, said the op-ed was not his.

A spokesman for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it was laughable that he wrote the piece. And spokesmen for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar also denied responsibility.

Trump derided the article as anonymous, meaning gutless and lashed out at the New York Times for publishing it, insisting they dont like Donald Trump and I dont like them because theyre very dishonest people.

In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Trump insisted: If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!

On Thursday, Rick Perry, the energy secretary, tweeted: I am not the author of the New York Times OpEd, nor do I agree with its characterizations. Hiding behind anonymity and smearing the President of the United States does not make you an unsung hero, it makes you a coward, unworthy of serving this Nation.

A spokesman for Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said: Thats a no. Acting Administrator Wheeler supports President Trump 100% and is honored to serve in his cabinet. He also believes whoever wrote the op-ed should resign.

On Twitter, many debated the importance of the authors use of the word lodestar, which pops up frequently in speeches by the vice-president, Mike Pence.

After the columns publication, the Washington Post reported that White House aides and outside allies of the president texted each other: The sleeper cells have awoken.

The White House immediately launched a hunt for the culprit, focusing their search on a half-dozen names, according to the New York Times.

The op-ed represents a shocking critique of Trump and is without precedent in modern American history. The former CIA director John Brennan, who has sparred fiercely with the president, called the op-ed active insubordination born out of loyalty to the country, not to Donald Trump.

I see all the warning signs of a looming disaster, he told NBCs Today show on Thursday morning.

The anonymous author describes Trump as amoral, anti-trade and anti-democratic and prone to making half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions.

The writer claims aides had explored the possibility of removing Trump from office via the 25th amendment, a complex constitutional mechanism to allow for the replacement of a president who is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, but had decided against it.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room, the author continued. We fully recognise what is happening. And we are trying to do whats right even when Donald Trump wont.

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Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo deny writing explosive op-ed ...

It's no secret there is little love lost between the McCains and President Trump. So when VP Mike Pence referred to the president during a memorial service for Sen. John McCain, social media users read a lot into the look on daughter Meghan's face. USA TODAY

Aug 31, 2018; Washington, DC, USA; Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen stand in prayer as the body of John McCain lies in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. Mandatory Credit: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY ORIG FILE ID: 20180831_jel_usa_103.jpg(Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY)

WASHINGTON Vice President Mike Pence turned to the Bible when asked recently what he makes of a new critical biography that callshim as aChristian supremacist."

The Bible says count it all joy when you endure trials of many kinds," Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview excerpt released Friday. "Any time Im criticized for my belief in Jesus Christ, I just breath a prayer of praise."

In The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence, that came out this week, authors Michael DAntonio and Peter Eisnercast Pence's background congressman, Indiana governor, Trump VPin a harsh light, arguing that the most successful Christian supremacist in American history is already functioning as a kind of replacement president and is preparing to fashion a nation more pleasing to his god and corporate sponsors.

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AfterNew York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote about the book under the headline Mike Pence, Holy Terror, religious leaders and other Pence supporters accusedBruni and the books authors of religious bigotry. Saying hed never heard such hatred poured out against such a good man,evangelist Franklin Grahamurged supporters to pray that God will put a hedge of protection around Pence and his family.

"You've been under attack,"David Brody, chief political analyst for CBN News, said to Pence in asking for his reaction.

Pence told Brody, "I really dont spend a lot of time thinking about it."

"This is a nation of faith," Pence said. "Well continue to stand for the things that we believe in."

Pence, who has long described himself as a "Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order,"alsodefended his faith in Februaryafter one of the co-hosts oftheABCdaytime talk showThe Viewcracked that Pence is mentally ill if he thinks Jesus is talking to him.

"Its one thing to talk to Jesus. Its another thing when Jesus talk to you,"Joy Behar, an actress and comedian, said on the show. "That's called mental illness, if I'm not correct. Hearing voices."

Pence responded that Behar's comments are "evidence of how out of touch some in the mainstream media are with the faith and values of the American people."

"I'd like to laugh about it, but I really can't," Pence said at the time.

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Mike Pence responds to being called a "Christian supremacist"

President Trump says evangelical Christians thank him more for moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem than Jewish people. Buzz60

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, smiles along with Vice President Mike Pence, as President Donald Trump speaks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta before a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ORG XMIT: OTKAB(Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON Weighing in on President Donald Trump's warning that there will be violence by his opponents if Democrats win control of Congress this fall, Vice President Mike Pence said he took the president to mean that Democrats want to undo everything Trump has done.

"But the presidents point as I took it, from where I was seated, was that the Democrat party in Congress is absolutely committed to reversing everything that weve been able to do for the American people," Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Networkin an interview excerptthat aired Thursday.

On Monday, Trump and Pence feted dozens of Christian pastors,ministers and other supporters from the evangelical communityat a White House dinner.

Trump warned thatDemocrats will overturn everything that weve done and theyll do it quickly and violently, accordingto an audiotape of his remarks provided to The New York Timesby someone who attended the event.

Asked by reporters Wednesday what he meant by the comments, Trump said, "I just hope there won't be violence."

"There's a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country, and I don't want to see it," he said.

In his remarks to evangelicals, Trump mentionedantifa, the name for loosely affiliated, left-leaninganti-racist groups that monitor and track the activities of local neo-Nazis.

"When youlook at antifa, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people," Trump said, according to the Times.

Asked by CBN News why Trump mentioned antifa, Pence said: "Obviously we condemn any examples of violence on the streets of this country, zero tolerance for any violence against Americans."

Pence said the reason why evangelical leaders were invited to the dinner was to make sure that the American people know that Democrats want to reverse Trump's agenda, including his appointment of "strong conservatives" to the federal courts.

"Thats the choice we face," he said. "Thats what I took the president to say."

Trump's 2016 victory was boosted by white evangelicals, 81 percent of whom voted for him. Thats a greater share than the support garnered byGeorge W. Bush in 2004, John McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney in 2012.

And evangelical leaders say Trump has delivered on promises to promote "religious freedoms," restrict abortions, appoint conservative judgesand recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

More: First year of Trump-Pence brings bountiful blessings, religious conservatives say

More: Mike Pence, 'Christian supremacist': 6 key takeaways from a new book

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Mike Pence: Here's what Trump meant about violence if ...

Pence continues to take heat for his dogged fealty to Trump. Michael DAntonio and Peter Eisner, the authors of the new book The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence, call him a toady. George Will, the conservative columnist whos openly rooting for a Democratic midterm sweep, calls Pence Americas most repulsive public figure. When Pence stands behind Trump, rotely nodding at the latest pearls of Trumpian wisdom, he sometimes conjures images of a bobblehead doll, the kind kids get for free at ballparks.

But there is a calculated method to his muteness. The era of vice-presidential irrelevance is long gone, John Nance Garners description of the job as a bucket of warm spit is veritably antique, and Pence is certainly a far more potent character than the first of Indianas five veeps, Schuyler Colfax, who was dumped by Ulysses S. Grant and ultimately dropped dead at a railroad station. Nobody knew who it was until someone searched the body for identification.

Pence is carefully positioning himself for power, even as he suffers indignitiesperhaps most infamously in May 2017, when he publicly insisted, on four separate occasions, that Trump had fired FBI director James Comey only because Justice Department leaders had supposedly urged Trump to do so, and because it was based solely on the commitment to the best interests of the American people. Pence made that quoted remark on May 10. On May 11, Trump yanked the rug from beneath Pences feet. He told NBC News that hed fired Comey to reduce heat from the Russia probe: Regardless of recommendation, I was going to fire Comey.

But while Pence endures embarrassment and plays the loyal soldier, he is slowly building his own political organizationincluding the Great America Committee, the first time a veep early in his first term has formed a PACand collecting IOUs from campaigning Republicans, all in preparation for the potential day of ascent. Its ironicsome would call it darkly comedicthat a conservative Christian moralist was rescued from an imperiled Indiana governorship by a man of manifestly shaky morals, and that he now stands ready to benefit from their odd coupling (his allies say, Mike will be ready), but thats politics. Or perhaps it is Gods will.

The biographers DAntonio and Eisener say that Pence believes the latter. They cite his favorite Bible verse: For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. They cite Pences oft-quoted description of himself as a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order. Indeed, they write: Some may laugh, but many conservative Christians believe that God is merely using Trump to prepare the way for a so-called true man of faith.

And its precisely his evangelical certitude that animates the ongoing argument, among Trumps vociferous critics, over whether America would be better served with Pence in the White House. Its a bit of a parlor game, since Trump has signaled that he does not intend to leave earlier than January 2025, but it becomes more fervent whenever Mueller issues indictments or New York prosecutors coax Trump insiders to cooperate.

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Mike Pence Is Conspicuously Absent as Vice President - The ...