Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared on Wednesday to reference the insurrection at the Capitol, saying that conservatives must keep their oath to the Constitution “even when it hurts.”
Pence spoke at the convocation ceremony for Liberty University, the evangelical Christian school that has been embroiled in controversy the past several years due to its handling of sex assault cases and its disgraced former president and chancellor.
“As constitutional conservatives, the American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise,” Pence told Liberty students in Lynchburg, Virginia. “We must, as the Bible says in Psalm 15, be prepared to keep our oath even when it hurts.”
The former vice president’s comments appeared to reference Jan. 6, 2021, where former President Donald Trump incited his followers to violently storm the Capitol and stop Pence and members of Congress from certifying the 2020 election by any means possible. Despite Trump and his followers pushing the dangerous lie that the election was stolen from the former president, Pence continued his constitutional duty of certifying the results for President Joe Biden.
“You know, I think there’s a common misperception in your generation as well that adversity creates character. Well, I have a different view,” Pence said on Wednesday. “I mean, the way you all put it is, ‘Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’ Well, I think whatever doesn’t kill you, just didn’t kill you.
“Adversity doesn’t create character, adversity reveals character. When the hard times come, when your convictions are tested, you will be in that moment the man or woman you had been preparing to be on every quiet day before.”
Steve Helber via Associated Press
Trump had publicly pressured Pence into declaring him the winner during the certification ceremony, despite the former president having lost the election. The former vice president was then pressured by Trump in a final phone call the morning of Jan. 6, just before the former president went to the Ellipse and delivered a speech containing lies that Pence had the ability to declare him the winner.
Just hours after Pence publicly declined to follow Trump’s orders that day, the former president tweeted that his vice president “didn’t have the courage” to do what was necessary to keep him in power — further angering the violent mob that had already breached the Capitol.
According to the House Jan. 6 committee, members of the Proud Boys — a pro-Trump neofascist group — were prepared to murder Pence on the day of the electoral certification. Rioters were recorded outside the Capitol chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” and constructing a mock gallows. At one point, members of the mob were only 40 feet away from Pence as he and his staff fled to a hiding place.
Last month, Pence said he’d “consider” testifying before the Jan. 6 committee if he were invited. Top aides to the former vice president have already appeared under oath before the committee.
Wednesday’s speech was not the first time Pence used euphemistic language when referring to the insurrection. Just a mile from where Trump’s mob wanted to hang him, Pence gave a speech in July that failed to mention the coup attempt or the violence directed at him by the former president. Pence, who is expected to run for president in 2024, focused his remarks — much like he did on Wednesday — on general Republican talking points like inflation, border security, women’s sports and so-called critical race theory.
