In 2016, my vote for Trump was largely a vote for Mike Pence. I wasn't exactly aboard the Trump Train in 2016, but I ultimately voted for him anyway after James Comey's FBI refused to recommend prosecution for Hillary Clinton following her blatant mishandling of classified documents. I wasn't particularly thrilled with Trump's decision to enter the 2016 Republican Party primary and dismissed him as a New York liberal who had no real interest in being president.
I was wrong, but his choice of Mike Pence as his running mate made my ultimate decision to vote for him easier. Fast forward to today, and it's now Pence who I've soured on after he refused to endorse Donald Trump.
"It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year," Pence told Fox News on Friday. "I'm incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world."
Pence reiterated his stance that, contrary to assertions that Trump and his supporters made, he lacked the authority to refuse to certify the 2020 election in states where allegations of fraud tainted the results, according to the Electoral Count Act of 1887. "[We have] our differences on my constitutional duties that I exercised on January 6 [2021]," he said.
"What I'm going to spend the rest of this year on is talking about what we should be for. And that is the broad mainstream conservative agenda that's defined our party and always made America strong and prosperous and free," he added.
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Before I continue, I should point out that I agree that Mike Pence is 100% correct that he had zero power to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election. To illustrate this point, consider the 2000 presidential election involving George W. Bush and Al Gore. In that contentious race, the fate of the election hinged on a mere few hundred votes in a single state.
Imagine if, on Jan. 6, 2001, during the congressional certification of the Electoral College ballots, then-Vice President Al Gore, despite having conceded days earlier, succumbed to pressure from within his party, claiming the election was illegitimate, and refused to certify the results of Florida. He couldn't have done it because he had no power to do so.
But is that a reason not to endorse Trump?
When Pence jumped into the race last year — a race that was obvious that Trump was overwhelmingly favored to win — he signed a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee in 2024 as it was a condition of his ability to participate in the Republican debates.
"I’m more than happy to meet the criteria,” Pence told Fox News at the time. “I’m confident I’ll be able to support the Republican nominee, especially if it’s me.”
Of course, he refused to say outright that he would support Trump if he were the nominee. “I am confident that Republican primary voters know that not only do we need new leadership in the White House, but we need new leadership in the Republican Party,” he said.
For a man who has repeatedly cited his oath to the Constitution, it's beyond hypocritical for him to sign a pledge to support the GOP nominee in 2024 and then renege on that pledge. I guess Pence's word isn't as solid as he claims it is.
