WASHINGTON — While President Donald Trump fumed on Twitter over an election that was increasingly slipping away from him, his running mate, Mike Pence, fell conspicuously silent.
He had stood next to Trump on election night at the White House, offering a comparatively placid speech on the need for every legal vote to be counted. But his social media presence went dark for days, until questions arose in the press over his absence at an event on Thursday where Trump doubled down on his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
Aides to Pence say his duty as vice president is to keep his advice to Trump private. He has spent the past several days calling party leaders and donors, gauging their support for the president's position and working to raise money for a legal fight over the election they hope, against tall odds, might change the outcome in their favor.
