Q: How are you choosing your battles?
Pence: “Well, for me, it’s always principles first. It’s not personal. I went to the inauguration last month and I was very moved in the outpouring of kind words and expressions of appreciation from former colleagues, including many members of the new administration who I encountered in hallways. And I saw Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio. I gave him a hug, told him how proud I was of him. We had praised him from here when he was selected. I must have seen about or interacted with about half the incoming Cabinet.”
“We went to the Carter funeral. And the president and I had a very cordial exchange. You know, he was coming down the row in front of us at the National Cathedral and he said, ‘Hi, Mike.’ And I was standing up, extended my hand, and I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President.’ And I could see his countenance softened. And he said, ‘Thanks.’ And Melania reached out and I said, ‘Congratulations, Melania.’ And it was, you know, the people that know me know it’s not personal. I’ve long since forgiven the president for any differences that we had at the end of our administration. We still have those differences as the president still holds the view that, to my knowledge, that I had some authority that I did not have under the Constitution or laws of the country. But from my heart, I’ve prayed often for the president.”
“And so, to answer your question, I think that the way we want to approach this is with integrity to principle. And I’m very encouraged. I think the Trump administration is off to a great start … I’m very pleased about the president undoing Biden’s border policies and putting back into place the policies that we had negotiated and established that secured the border. But you know, with regard to the nomination of RFK … for me, it would begin and end with the right to life … I saw the nomination of an abortion rights supporter to be secretary of HHS to be a dramatic departure from 50 years of strong pro-life leadership at HHS under Republican administrations. So we thought it was important to speak out. And we got a lot of quiet encouragement about that.”
Q: Quiet encouragement?
“Well, we got a lot of quiet encouragement from people that, for whatever reason, didn’t feel compelled to join us in that chorus. But I thought it was an important point for us to make. And, you know, we’ll continue to be a champion.”