On this date in both 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled the U.S. House Representative from Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, Greg Pence, who yes, is the older brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, whom Greg would call “Bubbles” in their youth. (Frankly, that’s the most humanizing thing I’ve ever heard about either Pence, who have all the charisma of jars of mayonnaise past their expiration.) Anyway, Mike Pence was the Congressman from Indiana’s 6th from 2003-2012, when he left Congress to become the abysmal Governor of Indiana, and Luke Messner took the baton for three terms… until 2018, when Messner made a failed run for U.S. Senate in Indiana, and Greg Pence stumbled out of his brother’s shadow to join the ranks of the obstructionist tools of the Republican Congressional Caucus.
Part of the reason Mike Pence became the more successful political story has to do with Greg’s record as a businessman, as he ran the family chain of Tobacco Road convenience stores in Indiana badly enough that they filed for bankruptcy, and ended up being fined $8.4 million because of environmental damage done by leaking underground storage tanks. Other than that, Greg Pence avoided reporters as if they were radioactive, did the bare minimum by being interviewed by a conservative radio talk show host where he could endorse Trump’s stupid idea for a border wall, and otherwise coast into Congress based on the family name.
Which somehow, was not the end of him having shady and outrageous business dealings… as the New York Times reported in 2019, since Greg Pence arrived in Washington, D.C., he frequently helps funnel money into the Trump Foundation, often by booking rooms at Trump’s DC hotel that he can pay for with campaign money. Whenever there’s been a Trump rally back in Indiana, he’s there to cheerlead (and his son is rumored to literally be doing that with chants at the rallies around the country). And whenever Donald Trump is in jeopardy in the House, like say, when the inquiry into Trump’s phone call with the President Ukraine was being investigated as a shakedown, he called it a “power grab”, or “bulls*** to the 4th degree”. (Watch the language, Greg, you might burn poor Bubbles’ virgin ears.)
Indiana’s 6th Congressional District has a +22 Republican lean, and yes, that’s a tie for the most conservative lean of any district in the state. Being boring, partisan, pathological liars is familial trait still meant he could win re-election with 69% of the vote, and go back to DC to do things like this:
- December 3rd, 2019: Greg Pence is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Rep. Pence ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
- May 15th, 2020: Pence votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- December 10th, 2020: Pence signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
- January 6th, 2021: Greg Pence votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
- January 13th, 2021: Rep. Pence votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
- February 4th, 2021: Greg Pence votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
- February 25th, 2021: Pence votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
- March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Pence votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
- March 3rd, 2021: Greg Pence votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
- March 10th, 2021: Pence votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
- March 17th, 2021: Rep. Pence votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
- May 19th, 2021: Greg Pence votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
- November 5th, 2021: Greg Pence votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
- March 31st, 2022: Pence votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Greg Pence would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
- May 18th, 2022: Greg Pence is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
- May 18th, 2022: Rep. Pence votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
- May 19th, 2022: Pence votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
We’re going to reiterate how soulless Greg Pence is by repeating something in the above… he voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election after the Capitol Attack, and voted against an independent commission being formed to investigate that same attack, where an armed mob of Trump supporters attempted to storm the halls of Congress, execute several leaders among them, including HIS OWN BROTHER.
He remained silent on supporting “Bubbles” until he was pressed about it in an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, and was willing to add the Vice President cannot just overturn the results of a presidential election.
Truly a noble soul, waiting until it was politically safer to support furthering his own little brother’s life upon this planet.
Why the voters of his district would think he would care about them at all… that’s the real mystery. They could, instead, vote for Democratic candidate Cynthia Wirth, but voting for anyone without an “R” next to their name might be something impossible for voters in this conservatively drawn district to do.
We’re still holding out hope reason can prevail going into November, instead of the GOP’s current brand of theocratic authoritarianism.
One Year Ago, July 9th, 2021: Greg Pence (IN)… 2021 Update
Two Year Ago, July 9th, 2020: Greg Pence (IN)… Original Profile
Three Years Ago, July 9th, 2019: Neal Tapio (SD)
Four Years Ago, July 9th, 2018: Luther Strange (AL)
Five Years Ago, July 9th, 2017: Mick Mulvaney (SC)… 2017 Update
Six Years Ago, July 9th, 2016: Mick Mulvaney (SC)… Original Profile
Seven Years Ago, July 9th, 2015: Randy Terrill (OK)