After former President Donald Trump named Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance his running mate, horror icon Stephen King shared a meme that reminded us all why Trump needed a new vice presidential pick in the first place.
In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), King noted that Trump's "own supporters tried to kill" former Vice President Mike Pence. Trump and Pence have been distant since the former vice president declined to overturn then-candidate Joe Biden's 2020 election win.
Moreover, Pence could have been killed on January 6, 2021, the day a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol on the false premise that the 2020 election had been stolen.
Video footage from that day shows the angry mob chanting "Hang Mike Pence!" and "Bring out Pence!" as they search for him through the halls of the Capitol. And just outside, the mob had set up a makeshift gallows.
'Bring out Pence': Jan. 6 committee shows video of protesters threatening Mike Pencewww.youtube.com
Considering this, King supported the notion that Vance would never have been chosen as Trump's running mate if the former president's supporters had not called for Pence's execution for refusing to do Trump's bidding.
King posted an altered image of a character from the Netflix series Stranger Things. In this post, part of the meme trend known as "Robin Holding a Whiteboard," the character is shown holding a dry erase board with the following message:
“Just a reminder that the reason he [Trump] has to pick a new VP is because his own supporters tried to kill his last one.”
You can see his post below.
@StephenKing/X
Many concurred.
While Pence has yet to publicly comment on Trump's selection of Vance, the former vice president has stated that he will not endorse him for president in November's election.
In a recent Fox News interview, he said, "It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year," adding:
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. And that’s why I cannot, in good conscience, endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
Pence's comments are a far cry from his prior spirited defense of his former boss, such as when he criticized the media for focusing on "one day in January."
At the time, Pence suggested that Democrats are trying "to demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported us in 2016 and 2020 but for our part I truly believe we all ought to remain completely focused on the future."
He has often been accused of playing both sides, given other remarks he's made including when he acknowledged that he and Trump would never "see eye to eye" on January 6, which he referred to as "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol."
@jaketapoer/Bluesky
@BillAckman/Twitter