PENCE DEFENDS TRUMP IN JOHN LEWIS HASSLE – AT 11:48 A.M. ET:  The latest manufactured crisis began when "civil rights icon" (required title) John Lewis, a Georgia congressman, declared President-elect Trump to be an illegitimate president. 

Trump shot back that Lewis might concern himself with America's crime-filled cities.  And so the fight was on, 

Now Mike Pence, one of the great assets of the Trump administration, defends Trump.  Pence, unlike Trump, has a smooth, professional style.  He shows us how it's done.  From CBS News: 

Vice President-elect Mike Pence said he found Rep. John Lewis’s criticism of President-elect Donald Trump “deeply disappointing” -- and that Mr. Trump, who lambasted Lewis on Twitter this weekend, “has every right to defend himself.”

“Donald Trump won this election fair and square, 30 out of 50 states, including Georgia,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “...To hear John Lewis -- a man that I served with, that I respect -- to question the legitimacy of the election and to say that Donald Trump will not be a legitimate president was deeply disappointing to me.”

“To hear that he was not going to attend the inauguration this Friday -- I hope he reconsiders both statements,” Pence said.

And...

Why, moderator John Dickerson, did Mr. Trump feel the need to take a swing at Lewis rather than just letting the comments go?

Mr. Trump “has every right to defend himself,” Pence said, suggesting that Lewis’s comments about election legitimacy seemingly conflict with his status as a leader for voting rights.

“We honor the sacrifice that he made but part of the result of what happened on Bloody Sunday [in 1965] and the courage that he showed was the Voting Rights Act,” he said. “So for someone of his stature not just in the civil rights movement but in voting rights to make a comment that he did not consider Donald Trump to be a legitimate president, I think, is deeply disappointing.”

COMMENT:  Very well said, Mr. Pence.  It's a pleasure listening to you.

January 15,  2017