Mike Pence’s 2024 presidential campaign is now selling merchandise that pays reference to one of the allegations against his former running mate, former President Donald Trump.
Mr. Pence, who served as vice president under Mr. Trump and is now challenging the man for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is referenced repeatedly throughout special counsel Jack Smith’s latest criminal indictment against Mr. Trump. On Tuesday, Mr. Smith issued an indictment alleging the former president illegally conspired to defraud the U.S., obstruct congressional proceedings, and violate rights as he rallied supporters to contest the 2020 election results. Mr. Smith contends these efforts by Mr. Trump culminated in demonstrators breaching the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, while Congress was certifying the election results.
According to the indictment, Mr. Trump had pressured Mr. Pence to help him contest the certification of the 2020 election results for Joe Biden. Mr. Trump allegedly called to berate Mr. Pence on Jan. 1, 2021, after learning his running mate would not support a lawsuit seeking a judicial determination that the vice president could reject or return vote tallies from states Mr. Trump was still contesting. When Mr. Pence refused to support the effort, Mr. Trump allegedly complained, “You’re too honest,” and then proceeded in rallying his supporters to support his efforts to contest the 2020 results.
By Thursday, Mr. Pence’s 2024 campaign store had launched a new hat and a new shirt featuring the “Too Honest” quote with Mr. Pence’s signature on the front and “Mike Pence For President” on the back.
Pence Knocks Trump After Indictment
Mr. Pence was quick to comment after the special counsel team indicted his former running mate on Tuesday evening.
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Mr. Pence said in his statement.
The former vice president said Mr. Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence but said Mr. Trump’s continued candidacy in the 2024 Republican primary will mean “more talk about January 6th and more distractions” and “less attention paid to Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies afflicting millions across the United States and to the pattern of corruption with Hunter.”
“Our country is more important than one man. Our Constitution is more important than any one man’s career. On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution, and I always will,” Mr. Pence said.
Mr. Trump’s legal team has argued that the allegations contained in the latest special counsel indictment conflict with his rights to free speech and his ability to seek legal counsel. In an interview with CNN after the indictment, attorney John Lauro argued that his client had “every right to advocate for his position.”
“[Mr. Trump] was being told under oath by people around the country that there were problems with the election,” Mr. Lauro told CNN. “. . . Ultimately, [Mr. Trump] had every right, in fact a responsibility, as the United States president to raise those issues. And now his advocacy is being criminalized.”
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday night, Mr. Pence said he wasn’t sure one way or the other whether Mr. Trump had actually committed any crimes in relation to his opposition to the 2020 election results and the breach of the U.S. Capitol.
“Honestly, I don’t know the full case in chief that the government has. I think I’ve said on your network many times that I don’t know if taking bad advice from lawyers is a crime,” Mr. Pence said.
The former vice president said Mr. Trump had been advised by a “gaggle of crackpot lawyers” and insisted Mr. Trump and these lawyers had asked him to do more than just delay the vote certification while Mr. Trump’s challenges played out.
“It seems to me that some of the argument I hear coming between the lines from his lawyers is something of a concession that he may have gotten bad advice, that he was just taking advice from his attorneys,” Mr. Pence said.