We’re having to rediscover Trump since the election as we figure out what promises he held and what are having to be jettisoned randomly. In this segment, Pence leaves open the question of whether Trump will order waterboarding of enemy combatants.
Watch below:
Will Trump allow waterboarding? "We're going to have a president who will never say what we'll never do," says Gov. Mike Pence. pic.twitter.com/GuFaQPXM8q
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 20, 2016
Pence is bright enough to know the problems with waterboarding, but he has to keep open the possibility in order to save Trump from his own dumb campaign promises. Putting aside of whether it’s torture, there are few officials who are going to be willing to perform the controversial tactic because the government has already shown that they face the possibility of being sued later under a different president. That’s what CIA officers discovered once Obama took over, and future agents are unlikely to take that chance.
Of course, Trump doesn’t care about these problems. He’s already said that he would force the military to commit war crimes even if they deny him.