Former Vice President Mike Pence called former President Donald Trump’s campaign a distraction in light of his latest indictment.
Trump was indicted by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith for a second time on Aug. 1. This time, the third indictment Trump has faced this year, includes four counts in connection to the events of Jan. 6, 2021 – including conspiracy to defraud the nation.
“Today's indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” tweeted Pence on Aug. 1 after news of the DOJ’s actions broke.
Pence noted he would “have more to say” once he reviewed the Biden administration’s case against his former running mate.
“The former president is entitled to the presumption of innocence but with this indictment, his candidacy means more talk about January 6th and more distractions,” said Pence. “As Americans, his candidacy means less attention paid to Joe Biden's disastrous economic policies afflicting millions across the United States and to the pattern of corruption with Hunter.”
Pence added that “our constitution is more important than any one man’s career” and that Trump “demanded” he choose between “him and the Constitution” on Jan. 6, 2021.
“As your president, I will not yield an inch in defending America, our people, or our values, and I promise you: I will do so in a way consistent with my oath to the Constitution and the character and decency of the American people,” wrote Pence. “We will restore a threshold of integrity and civility in public life so we can bring real solutions to the challenges plaguing our nation.”
Pence, the former governor of Indiana, filed to run for the presidency in 2024 on June 5. Prior to his gubernatorial term and his time in the Trump administration, Pence was a six-term congressman.
“Today, our country is in a lot of trouble,” said Pence on June 7 while formally announcing his campaign. “President Joe Biden and the radical left have weakened America at home and abroad. The American dream is being crushed under runaway inflation. … We can turn this country around. But different times call for different leadership.”
Pence has repeatedly commented on the investigations and charges that have been brought against Trump this year.
Pence denounced a Manhattan grand jury’s decision to indict Trump on campaign finance issues in March, prior to launching his presidential campaign.
“I think the unprecedented indictment of a former president of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage," Pence told Wolf Blitzer, per Axios. “It appears to millions of Americans to be nothing more than a political prosecution that’s driven by a prosecutor who literally ran for office on a pledge to indict the former president.”
When Trump was indicted on June 8 in connection to his handling of classified documents, Pence said the DOJ should “immediately move to unseal the indictment.”
“I’m deeply troubled to see this indictment move forward,” Pence said during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. “Yesterday on the road in Iowa, I had said I had hoped that the DOJ would see it’s way clearer not to move forward here. But let me be very clear: No one is above the law.”
“I think the sooner we bring the facts forward to the American people, the better,” he added.
He later said the allegations against Trump included “creating an opportunity where highly sensitive classified material could have fallen into the wrong hands, even inadvertently,” which “jeopardizes our national security. It puts at risk the men and women of our armed forces,” per NBC News.
