Former Vice President Mike Pence offered his latest criticism toward his former running mate over the weekend, accusing former President Donald Trump of having “walked away from American leadership” — even going so far as to liken him to President Joe Biden on a number of issues.
Pence hit out against Trump on a number of issues, including on the economy, abortion, U.S. involvement in foreign affairs such as the Ukrainian war, and healthcare, accusing the former president of having a position that is “identical to Joe Biden’s” in a number of areas. Pence’s comments came during the fall banquet for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, an annual event where Republican candidates seek to court evangelical voters in the key battleground state.
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“I must tell you that my former running mate, and others who you’ll even hear from tonight, have walked away from American leadership in the world,” Pence said. “I hold the view that America is the leader of the free world.”
Pence criticized members of his party who say the United States should withhold its financial support of the war in Ukraine, arguing it’s in the national interest to halt the Russian invasion. The former vice president also hit out against his onetime boss for his economic policies, claiming Trump’s position on Social Security and Medicare is “identical” to that of Biden.
“He won’t even talk about those programs. And most of the candidates in this field are the same,” Pence said. “I think the Republican Party is the party of fiscal responsibility and reform and we owe it to the American people to lay a pathway back to a balanced federal budget.”
Pence also condemned Trump’s view on abortion, painting himself as a staunchly anti-abortion candidate who would fight for a national standard rather than allowing states to implement different laws on the issue.
“I think we ought to ban abortion across America from that point that a baby can experience pain in the womb,” he said. “It’s a 15-week minimum ban … Why would we leave unborn babies in California and Illinois and New York to the devices of liberal state legislatures and liberal governors? We need to stand for the unborn all across America.”
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His comments come one day after Trump called on the Republican Party to craft a more unified message on abortion, acknowledging the issue was key to Democrats’ better-than-expected performance in the midterm elections last year. Presidential hopefuls have started to take on different tactics to tackle the issue, with some candidates such as Nikki Haley suggesting a compromise on the issue that can garner bipartisan support in Congress while others like Pence have called for a national ban.
Several GOP candidates were present for the Faith and Freedom Coalition event, including Pence, Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Perry Johnson, Ryan Binkley, and former Rep. Will Hurd. Notably absent was former President Donald Trump.
