Vice President Mike Pence centered his appearance at the 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference around reminding listeners of President Trump’s accomplishments as president.
The vice president opened his remarks with a central theme. “I’m here for one reason and one reason only. And that is our movement, our party, and America need four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House,” Pence said, followed by loud chants of “USA!” and “Four more years!”
Pence addressed Trump’s recent acquittal on two articles of impeachment approved by the House, which accused the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
“Justice was served, our Constitution defended, and President Donald Trump was acquitted forever,” Pence said, contrasting earlier remarks made by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said impeachment would be a stain on Trump’s presidency “forever.”
“An impeachment that will last forever,” she said while the trial occurred in the Senate.
Pence touched upon much of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, including its tougher approach on NATO, the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the targeted killing of Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
“Soleimani was not some government official. He was a terrorist. And President Trump was right to take him down,” Pence said of the event, criticizing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for calling the strike an “assassination.”
Additionally, the vice president touted the administration’s actions on immigration, saying that “national security starts with border security.” He claimed the president is holding to his promise during the 2016 campaign to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, which recently commemorated 100 miles of new border wall with a plaque to U.S. Border Patrol.
After citing the administration’s actions on other issues, such as abortion, trade, and economic growth, the vice president then knocked the Democratic presidential contenders for their performance in the recent primary debates.
“Any of you see that debate on Tuesday night?” Pence asked. “That wasn’t a Democratic debate. That was a demolition derby.”
“President Donald Trump won the Democrat debates in a knock-out, hands down, no contest, lights out,” he added before criticizing Sanders as the party’s potential nominee for president.
“The Democratic Party today is on the verge of nominating a candidate who honeymooned in the Soviet Union, wants to take away the health insurance of 160 million Americans, and speaks glowingly of socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela,” he said before adding, “There are no moderates in this Democratic field.”
Pence concluded his remarks with a thematic argument, asserting: “It was freedom, not socialism, that gave us the strongest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world. It was freedom, not socialism that ended slavery, won two world wars, and has made America a beacon of hope for all mankind.”
