Since leaving the White House in 2021 — after being threatened with hanging by now-pardoned Jan 6 rioters — former Vice President Mike Pence founded the conservative organization Advancing American Freedom and has been serving as the keynote speaker at a variety of speaking engagements across the country.
On Friday, Pence addressed the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, which describes itself as “Florida’s largest non-partisan political and public affairs organization.”
According to the Forum Club, Pence drew a crowd of 700 people in West Palm Beach — Trump’s backyard, where Mar-a-Lago is located.
Note: Since 1976, when President Jimmy Carter served as its inaugural speaker, the Forum Club has hosted the majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices and “a variety of thought leaders whose words and actions affect the world in which we live.”
Pence expressed his concerns about Trump’s “broad-based tariffs” (and warned that they could hurt American businesses and consumers) while also praising the second Trump administration for “its push to extend the tax cuts from the first term and for its actions on illegal immigration.”
Regarding Trump’s decision to halt U.S. aid and intelligence to Ukraine, Pence said: “For me, the decision, ultimately, is grounded in the fact that I have no doubt that if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine, it’s only a matter of time before he crosses a border that our men and women in uniform are going to have to go fight him. We need to continue to stand firm.”
WPTV journalist Hollani Davis, who interviewed Pence at the event, reported: “Mr. Pence told the crowd of 700, he and the President have exchanged some friendly words in recent months. He does not however condone President Trump’s decision to pardon those who assaulted U.S. Capitol Police during the J6 riots or vandalized the building. When I asked him if we’ll ever see him back on ‘a’ ballot again, he left the door open.”
One attendee wrote of Pence: “Amazing Speaker. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to a True Conservative Christian Republican Speak. Meet several new people.”
Note: The next speakers to address the Forum Club are Biden’s former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (April 3), and Reagan-appointed Senior Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Douglas H. Ginsburg (April 30).