Former Vice President Mike Pence openly mocked Donald Trump with a series of pointed jokes ridiculing his former boss

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Former Vice President Mike Pence ridiculed Donald Trump on Saturday, highlighting the deep rift in the duo’s political relationship. 

Pence teased numerous politicians during his remarks at the annual Gridiron Dinner but saved his most withering criticisms for his former boss. 

Pence quipped that Trump, who is running for president in 2024, wanted him to sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” during their weekly lunches — a reference to the fragility of the former president’s self-esteem, the Associated Press reported. One of the hit song lyrics is, “did you ever know that you’re my hero?”

The Gridiron Dinner is known for its comedic atmosphere — a long-standing white-tie gathering of Washington’s political and journalistic elite.  

Pence added wryly that he had “once invited President Trump to a Bible study,” calling it “an experience,” according to The Washington Post. Pence is well-known to be a deeply religious evangelical Christian. 

“He really liked the passages about smiting and perishing of thine enemies. As he put it, ‘You know Mike, there’s some really good stuff in there,'” Pence said, doing a verbal impression of the former president. 

“Which reminds me. I read that some of those classified documents they found in Mar-a-Lago were actually stuck in the president’s Bible,” Pence said, referencing the ongoing saga of investigations into Trump. “Which proves he had absolutely no idea they were there.”

“Honestly, I learned a lot working beside Donald Trump — like subpoenas, for instance,” he added. 

US President Donald Trump makes remarks on the economy as Vice President Mike Pence (R) looks on July 27, 2018 at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty

Pence’s tone changed on Saturday when he said there was “one thing I haven’t joked about,” CNN reported, calling the January 6 Capitol riots a “tragic day.”

Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day,” he said, adding that history would “hold Donald Trump accountable,” per the Associated Press. 

Once close allies, Pence turned on Trump’s political agenda in the days leading up to the insurrection of the Capitol. After Pence refused to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory, rioters chanted that they wanted to “hang Mike Pence.”