Pence Put America First When It Counted

By Marc A. Thiessen

If I could snap my fingers and magically make someone president, Mike Pence is the person I would put behind the Resolute Desk. He is one of the most decent and honorable men in U.S. politics. I never doubted that he would do the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021 – and I have no doubts that he would always do the right thing as commander in chief.

The question is: Can he survive his association with Donald Trump?

By that I don’t mean his four years of loyal service in the Trump-Pence administration, where he shares credit for all its many conservative achievements. Rather, I mean can Pence survive Trump’s disloyalty to him? In Trump’s dumpster fire of a CNN town hall last month, the former president continued his attacks on Pence, claiming that, as vice president, Pence could have overturned the “rigged” 2020 election. “He should have put the votes back to the state legislatures,” Trump declared. “It was a horrible thing for our country…. We would have had a different outcome.”

That is a lie. As Pence told me late last year in an interview for my podcast: “I did not possess the authority to unilaterally reject or return electoral votes that had been certified by all 50 states in the country. No vice president in American history had ever asserted that authority.” He added, “We did our duty that day” and “turned a day of tragedy into a triumph for freedom.”

Unfortunately, a significant number of Republican primary voters believe Trump’s lie, which has driven up Pence’s disapproval among Republicans. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans said they would not consider voting for him, a recent CBS News poll found. Many seem to think Pence betrayed Trump when actually it is Trump who betrayed Pence – and, even more important, betrayed his oath to the Constitution.

In announcing his candidacy on

Wednesday, Pence said that betrayal is disqualifying. “Anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put demand the same from those who would send them into battle?”

Pence’s super PAC puts things even more bluntly. “A president begging him to ignore the Constitution. A mob shout- left repeatedly trampling on our Constitution, threatening to pack the court to dismantle the God-given rights that are enshrined there,” Pence said on Wednesday. “We must stand on the Constitution to protect the G-d-given right to life. We must stand on the Constitution to protect the right to keep and bear arms. We must stand for the Constitution to protect the right to live, to work, to worship according to the dictates of our faith and conscience.” them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again,” Pence declared. On Jan. 6, he continued, “President Trump … demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. Now, voters will be faced with the same choice.”

Pence blends fidelity to the Constitution with a sunny, Reaganite optimism. Indeed, when he swore his oath to uphold the Constitution as vice president, his hand was on the Reagan family Bible. As Pence likes to say, “I’m a conservative, but I’m not in a bad mood about it.” He is betting that that message – and his evangelical faith – will sell in Iowa. It’s a long shot: Both Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hold double-digit leads in the Hawkeye State. But if Pence can pull out an upset in Iowa, then anything is possible.

When faced with a choice between his country and his own ambitions, Pence, unlike Trump, actually did put America first. “The American people must know the leaders in the Republican Party will keep our oath to support and defend the Constitution even when it’s not in our political interest to do so,” he said.

That is a bold challenge to Republican primary voters. Pence is effectively saying: If you choose Trump as your nominee, you are doing the opposite of what I did on Jan. 6 – you are picking Trump over the Constitution. “How can we ask our men and women in uniform,” he asked, “to support and defend the Constitution and not ing for him to die. And an anxious nation watching for one man to do what’s right,” the narrator of a riveting new ad says over images of rioters storming the Capitol. “A weak man appeases a mob. A man of courage and character stands up to them. That day, one man failed the test of leadership – while another stood tall.” This is brutal – and effective.

Pence is making defense of the Constitution the core of not just his critique of Trump but also his attack on President Biden and the Democrats. “We’ve had enough of the Democrats and the radical

Will upholding his oath cost him his shot at a higher office in which he would capably serve? “That’s all in the hands of Republican primary voters,” he told me. “And I have great confidence that they’ll choose wisely in 2024.”

This much is certain: With his courage on Jan. 6, Mike Pence saved our democracy. He would make an outstanding president. He has nothing to lose by throwing his hat in the ring, because whatever happens in 2024, his place in American history is secure.