Despite so much evidence to the contrary, Vice President Mike Pence really, really wants us to think Donald Trump is a great guy. And he is just certain we would all agree if only the darned media didn’t get in the way of Trump’s communication (just pay no attention to those tweets).

Pence is on a media blitz (excluding CNN) following Trump’s address to the joint session of Congress last night. Two stops at Fox News were scheduled. One for The O’Reilly Factor tonight and one has already happened this morning with the Trump cheerleading crew otherwise known as Fox & Friends.

Although there were no pompoms on the set, none were needed with such questions as cohost Steve Doocy’s opener: “How do you figure out when to start a standing ovation?”

Brian Kilmeade followed up with, “Did you get the impression that he [Trump] knew that this was the best speech of his career?”

But clearly, Pence had a slightly different message that seems not to have made it to the Fox News producers in advance. Otherwise, the hosts could have made the talking point look more organic by promoting it themselves in the form of a question. “What was most meaningful to me,” Pence said, on his own, was that “millions of Americans saw the president that I work with every day: broad shoulders, strength, determination, but big heart.”

Pence left out lying, authoritarian tendencies, bigotry, blaming others for one's own mistakes and thin skin. Not to mention questions about Trump's mental competence.

But, not surprisingly, Fox’s Trump Friends forgot all about those, too!

However, we got to hear lots more about the “broad shoulders” and “big heart” that the media has prevented us from seeing.

PENCE: Last night, the American people heard straight from the president about the progress we’ve made, about the challenges we face but they also heard what I see every day and that is that broad-shouldered optimism that believes there is no challenge, there’s no problem that can’t be solved and I think that’s why it’s resonating with millions of Americans this morning.

[…]

You heard the president’s passion for security. So I think you’re going to continue to see the president fight for the American people but I think what happened last night with the filter of the media taken off is the American people got to see President Donald Trump in full. They got to see those broad shoulders, that big heart and, frankly, that’s the president that I have the privilege of working with every day

[…] 

I’m someone who believes in the great tradition of State of the Union addresses, that it’s a moment where we can all come together, recognize that a president of the United States is president of all the people but whatever the reaction in the Congress, what you saw President Trump do – and again, I say what people saw is the president I see every day: broad shoulders, and a big heart with a clear vision for the future…

As of February 27, 2017, The New York Times catalogued 319 people, places and things Trump has attacked on Twitter. But either Pence has never “seen” Trump doing that (though surely Pence knows of it) or it’s just part of what Pence thinks of as “broad-shouldered” and/or “big hearted.”

Watch this attempt to refashion Trump's image below, from the March 1, 2017 Fox & Friends, and be on the lookout for similar messaging during the rest of Pence’s media blitz.