While the country awaits Trump’s official decision about 2024, one clear thing is that Mike Pence will not be his running mate. Trump reportedly considered Pence’s certifying of the 2020 election to be an act of disloyalty. It wasn’t—Pence had no authority to refuse to certify the election.
Former Trump advisor Michael Caputo suggested that whoever Trump picks “will have to be loyal, and they’ll have to denounce what happened in 2020. If they don’t, they’re disqualified.”
Does that disqualify Pence? Not necessarily. In a recent interview with CBN News, Pence acknowledged there were “irregularities” in the 2020 election.
“On January 6th, I said that I believe there were irregularities about which I was concerned, and I wanted them to have a fair hearing before the Congress,” Pence said. “But from the founding of this nation forward, it’s been well established that elections are to be governed at the state level and that the only role that Congress has is to open and count the electoral votes that are submitted by states across the country. No more, no less than that.”
The sitting vice president presides over the counting of the Electoral College votes but has no authority to reject their votes.
“And in January of 2017, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Pence continued. “The Bible says in Psalm 15 that he keeps his oath even when it hurts and, on that day, I could relate to that sentiment. But I wanted to keep my oath to the Constitution.”
Despite their disagreement on the certification of the 2020 election, Pence says he and President Trump are still close.
“You can’t spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,” Pence told Sean Hannity in October. “You know, January 6th was a tragic day in the history of our Capitol building, but thanks to the efforts of Capitol Hill police [and] federal officials, the Capitol was secured. We finished our work, and the president and I sat down a few days later and talked through all of it. I can tell you that we parted amicably at the end of the administration, and we’ve talked a number of times since we both left office.”
Pence’s position on what happened in January hasn’t changed. “I know in my heart of hearts that on that day, we did our duty, under the Constitution,” he told CBN. “I don’t know if President Trump and I will ever see eye to eye on that day. Or that many of our most ardent supporters will agree with my decision that day. But I know I did the right thing.”
The 2020 election still stings for many of us. Not only because of the election irregularities that went uninvestigated but because of how things have turned out since Biden took over. He was handed a country that was energy independent and with a secure border. Now gas prices are increasing, inflation is going up, and illegals are flooding into our country. It didn’t have to be this way, but that’s not on Mike Pence.
