Democratic strategist Paul Begala says Donald Trump’s recent outburst at Mike Pence on social media suggests he’s afraid of what the former vice president could say about him under oath.
Begala, a CNN commentator, pointed to “an old saying” he learned from one of his mentors: “A hit dog will holler.”
“And so when Trump is yelling at somebody, it’s because he’s afraid of them. He’s never criticized Pence before, because Pence is [polling at] like 2%. So why is he all of a sudden afraid of Mike Pence?” Begala said.
“I think, because, as now we know Trump said, he’s just ‘too honest.’”
Begala, who served as a chief strategist on Bill Clinton’s winning 1992 presidential campaign, said he believed Pence would testify against Trump in his election conspiracy trial.
“Pence can tell the truth,” he added. “And I think that’s what has Trump so scared, and that’s why he’s attacking him.”
Begala was weighing in on a Saturday Truth Social post from Trump accusing Pence of going to “the Dark Side” after speaking out against Trump following the latest indictment against the former president.
Donald Trump / Truth Social
Trump was charged with four federal felonies last week in connection to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Some of the evidence in the indictment appeared to come directly from Pence, whose “contemporaneous notes” of conversations he had with Trump were cited in the 45-page document.
According to the indictment, Trump phoned Pence on Jan. 1, 2021, and told him he was being “too honest” for refusing to go along with his scheme to stay in power.
Pence has been critical of Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, during which Trump supporters called for Pence to be hanged because he wouldn’t acquiesce to the then-president’s demands.
Pence has ratcheted up his rhetoric since the indictment, accusing Trump and his “gaggle of crackpot lawyers” of pressuring him to “literally reject” electoral votes for President Joe Biden.
Pence is running against Trump for president in 2024. According to FiveThirtyEight, Pence sits at about 5% on average in the polls, compared to about 53% for Trump.
Trump has been indicted three times this year. The first was related to an alleged hush money scheme to silence an adult film star before the 2016 election, and the second was in connection to his handling of classified documents after leaving office. He faces trial in the first two cases next year.