Amanda Carpenter: We Are Team Karen (Pence)
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Hello and welcome to the Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. A few notes. Yesterday's ad-free pod got cut off at the end, so if you missed one of my favorite widespread panic ditties about being around people and how that helps with your sadness, you can catch up with the playlist in the show notes every Friday at the Bulwark Podcast outro song playlist. It's right here. We put it in the show notes for you for people that ask. Also, this is a good chance to inform newbies. that if you want to go ad-free, you might not have even known you could do that. You can go to the bulwark.com slash subscribe, join Bulwark Plus. You'll also get access to the secret pod and some other goodies, and you don't have to listen to me talk about all of our great sponsors who we love and appreciate. And one more thing, the show notes today, we're going to, if you are looking for some ways to support the firefighters and the victims in California, we're going to put some vetted links in the notes.
So with that, my guest today, a writer and editor at Protect Democracy. She's co-author of The Authoritarian Playbook for 2025. Prescient, how an authoritarian president will dismantle our democracy and what we can do to protect it. It's my former colleague, Amanda Carpenter. How you doing, Amanda?
Hey, Tim. Happy Friday.
Is it a happy Friday?
It is.
You know why it's a happy Friday.
Fake it till you make it.
Yeah, we're going to fake it till we make it. You know why it's a happy Friday. I want to start here. I want to start with Karen Pence.
That's unexpected from you, Tim.
I know. But mother, I owe you an apology. I was not really familiar with your game. She just snubbed Donald Trump. She hard snubbed Donald Trump at the Jimmy Carter funeral service at the National Cathedral yesterday. And I'm going to do something that I don't usually do, Amanda, but in honor of mother. You know, the Catholics, us cradle Catholics, we're not big on like quoting Bibles. We're more about the saints than we are about the Bible verses. But the evangelicals, they're very Bible focused, as you know. And I was wondering if Karen had Ephesians 6.13 in her mind yesterday. For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world.
We'll put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything, stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace. She just turned her cheek. That was it. She put on her breastplate of righteousness and said, I'm not going to buddy up to you, Donald, like Barack Obama is. I am going to let you know with my eyes that you are evil. And good on you, Karen Pence. What do you think about that? Am I overthinking it?
That's a great Bible verse. I like that one. I like that one a lot. You know, it's remarkable. I mean, Michelle Obama notably didn't show up at all. Apparently, she told the press that she had a scheduling conflict while she's on her extended vacation in Hawaii.
She had to wash her hair. She was supposed to sit next to Trump. I would have also had a scheduling conflict. It's a busy day, bed, bath, and beyond. Got to go to Home Depot. We got to do some grocery shopping. You know, I got to do some returns. We got some presents we didn't like over Christmas. I just can't make it.
Yeah, but I mean, what Karen did there, I mean, it is pretty remarkable given the pressures in that room. I mean, obviously she knew every eye was trained on her, every camera, every photographer there. And she just sat there, which is, you know, it's a small act, but that is a major act of defiance, especially given the way her husband is. Mike Pence jumped up, shook his hand, you know, did the, you know, I'm a sober, responsible person thing.
It was like 2017 again with him. He did the shoulder shrug, you know, like the little tepid smile, meek smile.
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