MILWAUKEE — Former Vice President Mike Pence took center stage at the Republican presidential debate when the topic turned to Jan. 6.
Former President Donald Trump wasn’t mentioned much in the first few minutes, but the moderators then asked about his indictments and conduct after the 2020 election.
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“The American people deserve to know that the president asked me in his request that I reject or return those ballots unilaterally, a power that no vice president in American history has ever exercised,” Pence said. “He asked me to put him over the Constitution, and I chose the Constitution, and I always will.”
“Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election in 2024,” he added.
Pence also drew heavy praise from Chris Christie.
“The argument that we need to have in this party before we can move on to the issues that Ron [DeSantis] talked about is we have to dispense with a person who said that we need to suspend the Constitution to put forward his political career,” the former New Jersey governor said. “Mike Pence said no, and he deserves credit for it.”
However, Christie drew frequent boos from the crowd throughout the debate, indicating the praise may not be beneficial for Pence.
Vivek Ramaswamy pressed Pence on whether he’d pardon Trump if elected, to which Pence noted that Trump hadn’t been convicted of any crimes yet.
Other candidates pivoted away from the question, saying the election is about the future rather than the past.
“It’s not about Jan. 6 of 2021. It’s about Jan. 20 of 2025,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to focus on reversing the decline of our country.”
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Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) agreed.
“China is the No. 1 threat to our country, and every minute that these eight candidates talk about the past said about the future is fine with them,” he said.
