Republican presidential candidate Mike Pence over the weekend embraced the support he received from his GOP rivals at last week’s debate over his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, while another candidate also vying to be the party’s 2024 nominee was critical of the former vice president’s response.
During the first 2024 GOP presidential primary debate, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all agreed Pence did the right thing when he bucked pressure from former President Donald Trump and certified the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6.
Although the degrees of support varied, Pence’s 2024 opponents mentioned above credited the former vice president for his actions – a moment that could be considered rare in a debate between rivals all competing for the same role.
“I welcome the fact that almost everybody on that stage made it clear that I did my duty that day,” Pence said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, calling the support “heartening” but adding it “wasn’t anything new.”
He said “Americans from every walk of life” come up to him to thank him for his response on Jan. 6.
“I think the American people deserve to hear where every single one of the candidates for the Republican nomination stand,” Pence added on Sunday.
The former vice president made that same case on the debate stage last week, which prompted fellow 2024 candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to give a more direct answer on the topic after initially pivoting.
DeSantis avoided a clear answer on whether Pence did the right thing when asked by the debate moderators, saying the party needs to focus on the future, not the past.
When Pence insisted the “American people deserve to know whether everyone on this stage agrees that I kept my oath to the Constitution that day,” DeSantis said “Mike did his duty. I got no beef with him.”
Meanwhile, GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy – who was not asked about Pence’s actions on Jan. 6 during the debate – said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the former vice president missed a “historic opportunity” that day. If he was in Pence’s shoes, Ramaswamy said, he would have put conditions on certifying the 2020 results.
“Here’s what I would have said: we need single-day voting on Election Day, we need paper ballots, and we need government- issued ID matching the voter file,” the entrepeneur and anti-woke activist said.
“In my capacity as president of the Senate, I would have led through that level of reform, then, on that condition, certified the election results, served it up to the president — President Trump — then to sign that into law,” Ramaswamy added. “And on Jan, 7, declared the reelection campaign pursuant to a free and fair election.”
Ramaswamy’s comment that he would have insisted on voting only on election day with paper ballots is reminiscent of Trump’s criticisms in 2020 of mail-in and early voting.
However, Democratic voters’ embrace of such voting methods, has led the Republican National Committee to fear they are giving Democrats’ a “massive head start,” Republican National Committee legal communications director Gates McGavick said in an interview with Spectrum News last week.
Consequently, the RNC has launched a nationwide full-force campaign to convince GOP voters across the country to utilize early voting methods — whether that be through in-person early voting, absentee and mail-in ballots or “ballot harvesting, where legal.”
ABC News noted Ramaswamy’s views on Jan. 6 have also shifted, pointing to comments in his second book “Nation of Victims” in which he called Trump’s actions that day “abhorrent.”
