On Sunday evening, former Vice President Mike Pence received recognition for his defiance of his then-boss, President Donald Trump, on January 6, 2021.
For his unwillingness to abide by Trump’s request to have the 2020 presidential election results overturned, Pence was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Instead, he oversaw the legislative certification of former President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
“In order to fulfill his constitutional duties, Vice President Pence risked his life, career, and family. The late President Kennedy’s daughter, former ambassador Caroline Kennedy, presented Pence with the prize, saying, “We are proud to honor him for his actions, which preserved the fundamental democratic principle of free and fair elections.”
Accepting the yearly honor, Pence made a point of saying it’s a “distinction that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
To a standing ovation, the former vice president added, “I will always believe by God’s grace that I did my duty that day.” He was referring to his conduct on January 6.
Shortly thereafter, Pence said, “in all my travels across the country in the last four years, I’ve been deeply humbled by how many Americans have come up to me and just taken a point to encourage us and support us, and it convinces me that the American people know that what ever differences we may have, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand.”
When Trump selected Pence as his running partner in 2016, the now-65-year-old governor of Indiana was in office. During Trump’s first tenure in the White House, Pence was his devoted vice president for four years.
But all changed on January 6, 2021, when right-wing extremists, some of whom were yelling “hang Mike Pence,” stormed the U.S. Capitol with the intention of overturning legislative certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, which Pence was supervising as part of his constitutional duties as vice president.
The Capitol attack happened just after Trump addressed a sizable gathering of supporters close to the White House regarding unverified allegations that the 2020 election was “rigged” because of widespread “voter fraud.”
The Capitol’s violent attack has long been characterized by Pence as “tragic” and disrespectful to “the millions of people who had supported our cause around the country.” He has made a point of doing “the right thing” and fulfilling his “duty under the Constitution.” Additionally, he has often stated that he and Trump might never “see eye to eye on that day.”
Trump claimed in a social media post that “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” even though Pence, his family, and top aides were hurriedly moved by Secret Service agents as rioters roamed the Capitol hallways.
When the rioters were finally driven out of the Capitol, Pence returned to his constitutional duty of presiding over the congressional certification ceremony, despite the Secret Service’s recommendation that he leave the building.
Trump’s assertion that he had the ability to reverse the outcome of the presidential election has been denied time and time again by the former vice president. However, ardent Trump supporters have never forgiven Pence, whom they consider a traitor, for not supporting the president’s repeated attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election.
As the first running mate to run against their former employer in more than 80 years, Pence started his own presidential campaign in June 2023, joining a crowded field of Trump opponents vying for the GOP candidacy in 2024.
Running on a conventional conservative platform, Pence framed the Republican Party’s future in opposition to what he described as the party’s “populism” trend.
Pence was praised for his bravery during the Capitol attack by the Republican Party’s small anti-Trump base, and he frequently got gratitude for opposing Trump at town halls during his campaign.
Pence’s campaign for the White House never gained traction, despite his many visits to the pivotal early-voting states of South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Iowa. Only four and a half months after announcing his candidacy, he suspended his campaign due to difficulties with funding and polling.
The late John F. Kennedy’s 1957 book, written before he was elected president, is the inspiration behind the Profile in Courage Award.
Public servants who uphold moral principles in the face of possible political or personal repercussions are honored with this medal. Former Presidents Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, and Barack Obama were among the prior honorees.
At the awards event, JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg introduced the former vice president, saying Pence “saved America that day.”
Although she acknowledged her “political differences” with Pence, Caroline Kennedy, in her tribute to the former vice president, underscored that “political courage is not outdated in the United States.”
The well-known fiscal and social conservative Pence also made a joke about having to talk in front of a mostly Democratic audience, referring to himself as “the minority in this room.”
Even after Trump secured the GOP nomination last spring, Pence chose not to support him after abandoning his own presidential campaign. However, he did congratulate his former running mate on his triumph last November.
In early January, Trump and Pence made their first public appearance together in almost four years when they were spotted shaking hands at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
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During the president’s second term in office, Pence has become one of the few outspoken Republicans to criticize Trump.
He has criticized Trump’s divisive and careless imposition of high tariffs on the United States’ biggest trading partners, which at first caused a sharp decline in the stock market and spurred fears of rising inflation and a recession.
Additionally, he has pushed Trump to support his longstanding overseas partners and blasted the president for upending conventional U.S. foreign policy.
Advancing American Freedom, Pence’s public advocacy organization, also ran a campaign opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment to head the country’s health agencies.
