Overview
- Speaking at the Mackinac Policy Conference, Mike Pence said he and President Trump have grown distant and that "it's been a while" since they last spoke.
- Pence said he congratulated Trump and the First Lady after the 2024 election and described their exchange as "warm," but added they "don't talk as much as we used to."
- He defended his refusal to try to block the 2020 Electoral College certification as doing his oath to "support and defend the Constitution," a decision that drew violent threats against him during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
- Pence used his keynote to push for finding common political ground and to praise Trump’s 2016 and 2024 victories as reflecting voters who felt ignored by Washington.
- Michigan Advance reports that Pence remains politically marginalized within a GOP that prizes loyalty to Trump, a split that could shape intra-party debates about accountability and unity going forward.