A staff member from Trump’s campaign recalls him mocking Pence’s religiosity. He said that, when people met with Trump after stopping by Pence’s office, Trump would ask them, “Did Mike make you pray?” Two sources also recalled Trump needling Pence about his views on abortion and homosexuality. During a meeting with a legal scholar, Trump belittled Pence’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade. The legal scholar had said that, if the Supreme Court did so, many states would likely legalize abortion on their own. “You see?” Trump asked Pence. “You’ve wasted all this time and energy on it, and it’s not going to end abortion anyway.” When the conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!”

We are not faced with a madman, we are at war with a philosophy that sees all human life and civilization as subordinate to their accumulation of the wealth and the exploitation of the labor of the rest of society. If Mr Trump were to vanish tomorrow, our troubles would just be starting.

I hate to keep harping on this point, but we must beware of being seduced by the grotesque actions of one foolish barbarian into thinking he is what represents the true threat to American Civilization.