Former United States Vice President Mike Pence speaks out on various political topics in an interview after his announcement of joining the 2024 presidential race.
The Republican lawmaker said that former United States President Donald Trump's stance on the national debt was similar to President Joe Biden's. He added that the Republican businessman has not yet promised to "govern as a conservative."
Mike Spence Speaks Politics
Pence said that his former boss' position on the national debt was "identical" to Biden's, adding that for him, the GOP has to become the party of growth, fiscal responsibility, and reform. The former vice president added that he has already parted ways with Trump on two issues, the national debt, and anti-abortion policies.
The former vice president said that Trump was already walking away from a clear commitment to the right to life. Pence also noted that Biden's policy regarding national debt is "insolvency," arguing that the Democrat would not even talk about the 70% of the federal budget that represents entitlements, which he argues is driving the debt, as per The Hill.
During the interview with Pence, "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd said that placing entitlements on the table for the national debt was "unpopular." He added that the former president took them off the table because it would only attract more voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
Pence responded by saying that inflation has already gone up 16% in the last two and a half years. He argued that the situation is crushing the family budgets of millions of Americans, two-thirds of which are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.
Trump, on the other hand, expressed his disagreement with spending cuts for programs such as Medicare and Social Security. He said that he does not plan to touch those programs if he is voted to once again be the president of the United States.
Trump's Classified Documents Indictment
The former vice president was also asked about the recent indictment of his former boss over the latter's handling of classified documents taken from the White House. Todd noted that Pence previously claimed that similar accusations against Hillary Clinton made in 2016 made her unqualified to be the POTUS, according to Fox News.
Pence said that the larger issue was from the media's disproportionate coverage of various political issues, including the allegations of Russia collusion or even the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop controversy. He said that the independence counsel found that the investigation into Russia should never even have started.
On the other hand, the Republican said that many Americans have already "lost confidence" in the Justice Department. Pence committed that if he were to be elected president, he would "clean house at the highest levels of the Justice Department."
His remarks come as Trump is facing 37 federal felony charges related to the classified documents case. Throughout the controversy, the former president has called the indictment "political persecution" and his allies have criticized the Department of Justice for bringing forward the charges against the Republican businessman, said Politico.
