Former Vice President Mike Pence’s refusal to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat might have been his biggest public break with his former political boss. But Pence highlighted other contrasts with Trump that he hopes will help him rise from the bottom of the 2024 polls.
Pence has routinely told conservative audiences he had no authority to heed Trump’s demand to block the Electoral College confirmation of President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. In remarks to The Gathering conference on Friday, he spoke of key policy stances where he and Trump differ.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
“I’ve debated Trump a thousand times,” he said to laughs. “Just not with the cameras on.”
Pence has called to revamp the nation’s financially-stretched retirement system - just not for people who are near or in retirement. He characterized his plan as bringing minor changes to Social Security to those who are under 40.
He also criticized Trump and other Republicans for a strategy to “pull back from American leadership” on the international stage. And he said he would push for federal abortion restrictions rather than frame it as a state-level issue.
But he saved his most scathing rhetoric for Biden, who he said is presiding over a “disastrous” economy and runaway debt driving inflation. He accused Biden of leaving a “vacuum” in world leadership that’s fueled more violence and conflicts.
Voters, Pence said, often ask if he’s worried that the 80-year-old Biden is too old to serve in office.
“Let me assure you - I’ve known Joe Biden for a long time,” he said. “He’s always been that wrong.”
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