When former Vice President Mike Pence spoke in New Hampshire, a state that could prove important to his political future, he handled his boss from the last four years gingerly.
“I learned a lot serving alongside President Donald Trump,” Pence said at the Hillsborough County Republican Party Lincoln-Reagan Dinner Thursday night, calling his term as vice president “the greatest honor of my life.” He went through the standard litany of conservative policy accomplishments — tax cuts, judges, the economic boom prior to the pandemic — from the “four years of consequence,” concluding: “It was four years of promises made and promises kept.”
But Pence, a former congressman, also described the Jan. 6 riot in Washington, D.C., over the certification of Trump’s defeat as “a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol.” He lamented the divisiveness and civil unrest in the country. Then came the money quote that dominated the news coverage of his speech.
“You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office,” Pence said. “And I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day.”
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“He gave a red meat speech to conservatives sounding all the right tones as a prospective presidential candidate,” said Mike Dennehy, a Republican strategist in New Hampshire. “He’s got a very careful balancing at right now. He appropriately took credit for all the Trump-Pence accomplishments while acknowledging he’s not Donald Trump’s favorite guy.”
No one may be better situated to bridge the divide between the new Trump populism and the older movement conservatism than Pence, who has already launched a group called Advancing American Freedom that aims to do just that. But like so much else in Republican politics, Jan. 6 left him with an unsettled future.
After four years as a loyal vice president and occasional Trump stand-in with the Washington establishment, Pence became the scapegoat for the ticket’s loss in some MAGA circles. He was there when the Capitol was attacked and evacuated, as Trump tweeted about his lack of courage in challenging the election results — something Pence concluded he did not have the constitutional authority to do. Instead, the then vice president returned that night to preside over the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory. Unlike Trump, Pence attended Biden’s inauguration.
The events created a rift between Trump and Pence. Perhaps more importantly, it engendered some hostility toward Pence from the most pro-Trump elements of the party without noticeably increasing his support among Republicans who dislike the former president. A conservative activist described him to the Washington Examiner at the time as “a man without a constituency.”
Pence spoke Thursday night against the backdrop of internet diehards buzzing about Trump being reinstated as president by August. There have been conflicting reports about whether Trump believes this himself or has merely discussed the idea, for which there is no legal nor constitutional mechanism, with associates out of curiosity. But he has done nothing to tamp it down.
On Friday, Trump responded to Facebook’s announcement that he is suspended from the social media platform for at least two more years (retroactive to Jan. 7) by issuing a statement saying, “Next time I’m in the White House there will be no more dinners, at his request, with Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. It will be all business!”
That could simply mean Trump plans to run again in 2024 and win his rematch with Biden. The last election essentially came down to three battleground states Trump lost by about 43,000 votes, though Biden did win an absolute majority of the popular vote. But Trump has continued to claim the 2020 race was stolen from him and has supported election audits in Arizona and elsewhere.
Unlike former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and some other former administration officials, Pence hasn’t yet ruled out a 2024 campaign even if Trump were to run. But it would be difficult. Most surveys show Trump as the front-runner, with Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis next — and also next best positioned if Trump stays at his ornate Mar-a-Lago resort instead.
Whatever happens in 2024, Pence’s approach to Trump could be a model for how other Republicans talk about the former president going forward: supportive of his policy achievements, but dismayed by Jan. 6 and not interested in relitigating the election drama. With the midterm elections fast approaching, they will surely be asked.
“Statesmanlike is how I would describe Pence’s recent comments on Trump and Jan. 6. He knows he did the right thing and is leaving any anger he might have towards Trump out of it,” said veteran Republican strategist Jim Dornan. “He knows Trump still has some sway among GOP voters, and he doesn’t want to antagonize them, while at the same time stating that he rightly performed his constitutional duties as vice president. It’s a very wise move.”
It is not an easy balance to strike. When former House Speaker Paul Ryan delivered a speech that was complimentary toward Trump by name and his administration’s record while gently admonishing reliance on “the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations,” Trump responded with a scathing statement.
“Ryan should instead be telling them how to stop the cheating of elections and that we would have won if Republican leadership fought the way the Democrats did,” the former president said of “RINO Paul Ryan.” Trump did not respond to Pence’s speech.
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Pence paid tribute to Trump’s fighting spirit. Noting their personality differences, he told the New Hampshire GOP, “But I think what President Trump showed us was what Republicans can accomplish when our leaders stand firm on conservative principles and don’t back down.”
DeSantis and other prospective candidates have also tried to emulate that approach, which is important to the party’s base.
“It’s the way to go,” said a longtime Republican operative. “Even if it might not be enough to save Pence.”
