“Mike Pence is a man of honor, character and honesty,” said yet-to-be President Donald Trump in 2016, announcing the Indiana politician as his running mate.
“We are the law and order candidates and we’re the law and order party,” Trump said in announcing Pence. “There’s going to be respect again for law and order.”
Celebrating Pence’s position on the ticket with such a glowing characterization is a moment the former President has come to regard with deep bitterness, having broken with Pence after the Vice President refused to break the law to keep Trump in office.
It is a case where Trump, as he realized too late, had made his own bed — for in displaying “character and honesty,” as Trump predicted, and showing, under extreme pressure, “respect again for law and order,” Pence did indeed show the GOP — at least his shrinking faction of it — to be a party that prized law and order.
When Donald Trump announced Mike Pence as his running mate in July 2016, he said:
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 3, 2023
"Mike Pence is a man of honor, character and honesty." Adding,
"We are the law and order candidates and we're the law and order party…There's going to be respect again for law and order."
Trump predicted — and professed to esteem — Pence’s rigid ethical character, until Pence’s respect for law and order crashed into Trump’s alleged attempt to subvert the law and hold onto the presidency.
Later, when the critical moment arrived between the two men after the 2020 election, and Pence refused to do Trump’s bidding, Trump reportedly told Pence: “You’re too honest.” More recently the former President said he feels “badly” for Pence.
The nerve Trump’s own words struck became more raw this week as Pence is newly rumored to be a potential key witness for the government when Trump is tried for multiple conspiracies, including conspiracy to commit fraud against the United States as part of his actions after the 2020 elections.
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