Trump has reportedly been questioning Pence's loyalty so often that it's alarming his advisers


Could President Trump be looking to boot Vice President Mike Pence off his re-election ticket?
Trump in recent weeks has been asking his aides and advisers if they think Pence is loyal, raising this question so often that they are getting "alarmed," The New York Times reported Friday. While Trump has not explicitly told his advisers he wants to drop Pence in 2020, they reportedly see these conversations as evidence that he may be growing "irritated" with the vice president. According to the report, Trump still hasn't gotten over the fact that Pence in 2016 distanced himself from Trump's Access Hollywood comments about groping women.
For the most part, it seems Trump's advisers tend to tell him that Pence is, in fact, loyal. But some of them suggest he should still replace Pence as his running mate in 2020, instead choosing a woman in an attempt to appeal to female voters. One name that several outside advisers have mentioned is Nikki Haley, the outgoing ambassador to the United Nations.
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Still, The New York Times reports that Trump's loyalty question doesn't necessarily mean he's definitely going to drop Pence; some have suggested it's more related to the fact that he's reportedly considering replacing Chief of Staff John Kelly with Pence's chief of staff, Nick Ayers. White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley pushed back on this report by saying Trump "absolutely supports the vice president." Read more at The New York Times.
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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
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