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In NC speech, Pence says he was 'troubled' by Trump charges but opposes former president's reelection bid

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in Greensboro that he was troubled by the recent federal indictment against former President Donald Trump, but added "no one is above the law." Trump plans to speak at the same event Saturday night.
Posted 2023-06-10T04:17:32+00:00 - Updated 2023-06-12T19:44:43+00:00
Mike Pence addresses NC GOP convention live in Greensboro ahead of an expected speech by former President Donald Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Saturday that he was troubled by the recent federal indictment against former President Donald Trump, but added “no one is above the law.”

“I had hoped the Department of Justice would see its way clear to resolve the issues involving the former president without an indictment,” Pence, who is running for president, said in during a speech at the North Carolina Republican Party’s annual convention in Greensboro, accusing federal prosecutors of being too politicized.

But while he defended Trump on that, Pence was clear that he opposes Trump being in the White House again. Pence said he chose the U.S. Constitution over Trump's thirst for power amid the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, adding that his brand of leadership is what the country needs now.

"Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States," Pence said of the attack, which happened as Trump sought to tilt the 2020 presidential election in his favor. "Our liberties have been bought at too high a price. How can we ask our men and women in uniform to take that oath, and risk their lives to defend our Constitution — and not demand the same of those leaders who would send them into battle?"

But it's not just that, Pence said, adding that Trump favors big government spending just as much as any Democrat.

"Joe Biden's policy is insolvency," Pence said. "He won't even talk about responsible reforms. ... Sadly, my old running mate's policy is the same as Joe Biden's."

The remarks came hours before Trump planned to address North Carolina convention — one of his first public appearances since federal prosecutors unveiled dozens of criminal charges against the former president, who is seeking reelection, over his alleged mishandling of state secrets after leaving office.

Pence is now his political rival, their relationship having soured following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Trump supporters hunted for Pence and chanted death threats during the attack, after Trump criticized Pence for not cooperating with efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

That was only part of the reason political observers were eager to hear Pence’s remarks. They were also anxious to hear what he had to say about the latest charges against Trump.

Pence called on U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to explain the rationale for the indictment.

“I'm calling on the attorney general to stand before the American people and explain why this was necessary — in his words. Attorney General Merrick Garland, stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people and explain why this indictment went forward.”

Trump support

Polls show GOP voters tend to support giving Trump another chance at the presidency. But no polls have come out since the federal government charged Trump in the case related to classified documents.

So far, conservative activists at the North Carolina convention haven’t expressed to reporters much concern about the new criminal charges.

Some have indicated they’re now more energized to vote for Trump, viewing him as the victim of a politically motivated prosecution. Trump said the same on Friday, calling the charges against him “the greatest witch hunt of all time.”

After Trump’s lawyers announced they had quit on Friday, Trump wrote on social media that he harbored no ill will. “They were up against a very dishonest, corrupt, evil and ‘sick’ group of people, the likes of which has not been seen before,” he said.

It’s not yet clear whether Trump’s speech Saturday will focus more on the criminal charges, or if he’ll focus more on what he hopes to accomplish if elected to a second term as president.

Pence stuck up for Trump on the matter of the criminal charges, railing against what he deemed an overly politicized U.S. Department of Justice.

He had harsh words for other parts of the federal government, too, decrying political correctness in the military and promising in particular to undo Fort Liberty’s name in Fayetteville, and rename it Fort Bragg, after Confederate General Braxton Bragg. That promise — when Pence made it Saturday and when another GOP contender, Ron DeSantis, said the same thing Friday night — won one of the largest ovations of either man’s speech.

Pence, like DeSantis, also railed against perceived efforts to inject liberal ideologies into schools and businesses, and talked about further restricting abortion access.

Pence has distinguished himself from the other Republican candidates by talking about the Jan. 6 attack — themes that resurfaced Saturday. He also dedicated a large part of his speech to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with a full-throated defense of Ukraine — in stark contrast with DeSantis, who in the past has dismissed Russia’s invasion as a “territorial dispute” and suggested the U.S. should end its involvement on Ukraine’s behalf. DeSantis has since walked back those remarks, the Associated Press reported, following public criticism from some fellow Republican officials.

Trump has also resisted saying the U.S. should be involved in Ukraine, according to national media reports. So Pence has a lane to appeal to some of the more traditional, neoconservative voices in the GOP.

Pence used his speech Saturday to not only attack Russian President Vladimir Putin but also harshly criticize Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan — and more generally push back some of the isolationist voices growing in influence in the Republican Party, and defend a vision of America as a continued superpower.

From liberating German concentration camps, to putting a man on the moon, Pence said, “we’re Americans. There’s nothing we can’t do.”

Attack on 'woke' ideology

The North Carolina convention kicked into high gear Friday with a speech from another key presidential challenger in DeSantis, the Florida governor.

DeSantis wants to convince Trump supporters that he’s on their side, and is the more electable option. His speech was well received by the conservative crowd Friday, touching on his opposition to anti-racism trainings, pro-transgender policies and other ideas he dismissed as ‘woke.’

Without explicitly mentioning Trump, DeSantis also decried a “culture of losing” in the Republican Party in the last few elections. Beyond Trump’s loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in 2020, Republicans also failed in 2022 to take back control of the U.S. Senate after voters rejected a number of Trump-endorsed Republican candidates in key swing states.

One area where DeSantis defended Trump was on the new criminal charges.

A former military lawyer, DeSantis questioned why prosecutors would go after Trump for mishandling classified documents when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — Trump’s Democratic opponent in 2016 and subject of numerous “lock her up” chants at Trump rallies — didn’t also face charges.

"Is there a different standard of justice for a Democratic secretary of state and a Republican former president?" DeSantis said.

According to prosecutors, many of the classified documents Trump had contain secrets about the military strength and strategies of the U.S. and various foreign countries.

In addition to illegally keeping them after he left office, the charging document states, Trump also treated the nation’s secrets without regard, showing the papers off to visitors who didn’t have the proper security clearances to view what Trump had taken.

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