Tucker Interviews Former VP Mike Pence
“A year and a half ago Russia had the second most powerful military in the world. Today, they have the second most powerful military in Ukraine. So that’s progress.” ~Former VP Mike Pence
The Blaze held a summit over this July 15, 2023 weekend where Tucker Carlson interviewed the current field of 2024 Republican Party presidential primary candidates one on one (except Trump).
This post is a quick summary of Tucker’s interview with former Vice President Mike Pence. You can watch the full video here, and I’ve include a 3 minute clip below.
What I Heard
Here’s what I heard when I listened to Tucker interview former VP Mike Pence.
Trump was reckless on January 6. When asked about January 6, Pence made clear he thinks Trump’s words or actions that day were reckless and endangered Pence’s family. [Beginning of Interview]
Enemy church leaders are not safe. Pence suggests that Zelensky is jailing leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine because they are working with the Russian military. Pence states that the leader of Christian church leader in Kiev assured him so. Pence is satisfied that religious freedom is respected in Ukraine. [14:45–18:00]
Ukrainians must fight so we don’t have to. Pence has no doubt that “if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine,” the Russian military will cross the border of a NATO country “that our armed forces will have to go and defend.” [18:1–18:30]
We arm Ukraine to deter China. Pence says by giving Ukraine military what it needs to fight Russia, we send a “deafening message to China” that we won’t tolerate incursions in the South China Sea. [20:00–22:09]
More military spending. Pence says answer to running out of artillery for Ukraine is to invest in our national defense. [22:10–21:10]
Obama was the reasonable one? Pence brags about sending Javelin missiles to Ukraine after the Obama Biden administration refused. [22:55–24:24]
“That’s not my concern.” After Tucker challenges Pence on his concern for arming Ukraine while US cities deteriorate, Pence suggests that only those with a small world view think we can’t both lead the free world and solve our problems at home. In this exchange, it becomes clear that there is no love lost between Tucker and Pence. [24:40–26:27]
My Thoughts
Overall, Pence came across as a pro-war, pro-life, Republican. That is, he is what the left thinks Republicans are. When asked about his concern for domestic problems, he recited the same old things—secure the border, military, get our economy going, law and order, pro-life judges. He is clearly committed to Biden’s proxy war, and he most likely would commit more US resources to the conflict. Let’s also not forget his role in the federal response to SARS-Cov-2. In my view, Pence has zero chance of being the nominee and should exit the race now.
Kudos to The Blaze for having Tucker interview the current field of Republican presidential candidates. Its worth watching the various interviews if you haven’t.