Editor’s Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him @DeanObeidallah@masto.ai. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.
CNN
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Former Vice President Mike Pence’s speech Saturday night at the annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, DC, served up a few laughs, some kernels of truth and a massive helping of hypocrisy.
That last portion surfaced when Pence told the audience of journalists and politicians, “The American people have a right to know what took place at the Capitol on January 6.”
Remarkably, those comments came from a person who declined to testify before the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, and who recently filed a motion to block a federal grand jury subpoena seeking his testimony in the investigation into that attack.
But first Pence provided what this dinner is known for, namely comedic barbs targeting political figures. For example, he repeatedly mocked former President Donald Trump with jokes such as: “I read that some of those classified documents they found at Mar-a-Lago were actually stuck in the president’s Bible.” Pence then quipped, “Which proves he had absolutely no idea they were there.”
Next came the truth portion of the speech when Pence — turning deadly serious — bluntly told the audience that Trump was “wrong” in that “I had no right to overturn the election.” Pence even made this personal, saying Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day.” He added, “I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
The former vice president also rightly slammed efforts by some to rewrite the January 6 attack as a visit by “tourists,” declaring, “Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way.”
That is when Pence delivered the hypocrisy — so laughable that it fit better with the comedic portion of his speech. After saying the public has a right to know what happened that day, he praised the media’s reporting of the insurrection, saying, “The American people know what happened that day because you…
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