Former Vice President Mike Pence, who had a decisive role in one of the country’s more significant Constitutional crises of the past 50 years, spoke about that event and other political topics during Middle Tennessee State University’s annual Constitution Day observance on Sept. 17.
Pence answered nine questions from event moderator Mary Evins (an MTSU history professor) and another 14 questions from MTSU students during a nearly two-hour program with an audience of about 900 people at the university’s on-campus Tucker Theatre. There were no interruptions from audience members during the program.
Evins is also the coordinator for MTSU’s American Democracy Project, which hosts the annual event that includes multiple public readings of the entire historical document by MTSU students and staff on campus on Sept. 16-17.
Pence, who served as Vice President from 2017-2021 under Donald Trump, said he followed his Constitutional role of certifying each state’s Electoral College votes from the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021. Hundreds of people who believed the votes and Electoral College process had been done illegally broke through doors and windows of the Capitol, demanding that Pence not certify the votes.
Despite repeated requests from the Secret Service to leave the Capitol, Pence remained in the building and completed the certification process early in the morning of Jan. 7, 2021.
“The key date was not January 6 three years ago; it was that day in January of 2019 when I took that oath of office (to defend the Constitution) not only to the American people but also to Almighty God,” said Pence, who was introduced at the MTSU event as a “hero of the U.S. Constitution.”
He added a military-like analysis of his actions and decisions on Jan. 6.
“I stayed at my post. I was not afraid,” Pence said. “I was angry, saying ‘Not this, not in America.’ I will always look at January 6 as the day the Constitution held.”
Pence, who said that former President Ronald Reagan was his political inspiration, said that the historical document was created to “organize a government through a commitment to the separation of powers.”
MTSU students asked Pence for his views about relations between the U.S., Israel and the Palestinians; the war between Russia and Ukraine; climate change; his support for the war in Afghanistan; the political divide in the country; and the LGBTQ+ movement.
Pence’s former boss is now the Republican nominee for President. At the end of the program, Pence was to reveal his voting choice for the 2024 election
“I have debated (Democratic nominee) Kamala Harris on national TV. She developed her radical philosophy in California and she may have been the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” he said, then in a much louder voice, “I will not vote for Kamala Harris.”
Pence said that he agrees that abortion and border security are significant issues, he considers a balanced budget as the top issue to determine the outcome of the 2024 election.
“It is absolutely essential to the United States to face the debt crises,” he said. “Both parties have walked away from policies that would get our financial house in order. We must restore our fiscal integrity.”
Pence said that he views the country’s multi-trillion-dollar debt also as a moral crisis “because we must stop taking money away from our children and grandchildren.”
If Sen. J.D. Vance is elected Vice President, Pence said he would offer this advice for the office: “Be informed, be prepared and be of service.”
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