(Headline USA) Former Vice President Mike Pence refused to say this week whether he would pardon former President Donald Trump if Pence was elected president and the latter was convicted as a result of one of several investigations.
Pence, who announced his candidacy for the White House this week, sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash for a town hall in front of a crowd in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday. Asked by Bash about a potential presidential pardon for Trump, Pence said: “I don’t want to speak about hypotheticals.”
“I’m not sure I’m going to be elected president of the United States,” Pence said. “I believe we have a fighting chance. I really believe we do.”
Pence’s comments were made prior to the reported DOJ indictment of Trump on Thursday.
Bash continued to press Pence on the question, but the former vice president quipped, “You’re as persistent as ever. CNN is living up to its reputation.”
He then again changed the subject.
“There are real issues the American people are facing, and rather than talking about that, I want to talk about what the people here in Iowa are talking about, which is the failed policies of the Biden administration and the need for us to have new leadership in the White House and in our party,” he said.
Trump is facing 34 felony charges related to an investigation launched by leftist Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into an alleged hush money payment made by Trump’s 2016 campaign to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump is also facing a reported indictment from a federal investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith into his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Pence did say during the CNN town hall that he hopes the grand jury hearing evidence against Trump in the classified documents case decides against indicting Trump, arguing that such an indictment would be a “drastic and divisive step.”
“I think it would also send a terrible message to the wider world,” Pence said. “I mean, we’re the emblem of democracy. We’re the symbol of justice in the world and this is a serious matter, which has already happened once in New York, of indicting a former president of the United States, it sends a terrible message to the world. I hope the DOJ thinks better of it or resolves these issues without an indictment.”
On the same day that we find out Joe Biden took $5 Million from Burisma, Joe Biden's DOJ has also indicted President Donald Trump.
We are not a serious country. This is a WITCH HUNT. And our entire government has been weaponized for the sake of persecuting conservatives.… pic.twitter.com/qG1kVxPCSS
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) June 9, 2023
