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July 15, 2023

No, Pence didn’t say America isn’t his concern, but he’s toast anyway

By Andrea Widburg

The news on the internet was electric. During a talk with Tucker Carlson, Mike Pence, one of the Republican party’s presidential aspirants, said that the United States is not his concern. The truth is that, when his entire statement is taken in context, that’s not what Pence said at all. However, the snippet that made the rounds is what leftists used to call “fake but accurate” insofar as it sums up a man who’s viewed as a turncoat and a uniparty globalist who’s only a social conservative.

Here’s one of the videos that made the rounds. You can see that Pence is very passionate about Ukraine. Once he finishes that riff, Tucker talks about the pressing issues in America and asks Pence about those issues, at which point Pence says the fatal phrase, “Well, that’s not my concern.”

Within minutes, the memes were flying:

This meme sums it up best:

Image: Internet meme; creator unknown.

However, the truth is that Pence never said that America’s well-being isn’t his concern. Here’s what he said after the snippet cut off on those fateful words:

Tucker: I think it’s a fair question to ask, like, where’s the concern for the United States in that?

Pence: Well, it’s not my concern, Tucker. I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern. I’m running for president of the United States because I think this country is in a lot of trouble.

I think Joe Biden is weak in America, at home and abroad, and as president of the United States, we’re going to restore law and order in our cities. We’re going to secure our border, we’re going to get this economy, move it again, and we’re going to make sure that we have men and women on our courts at every level that will stand for the right to life and defend all the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution. Anybody that says that we can’t be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth. We can do both and as President of the United States, we will secure our border. We will support our military, we will revive our economy and stand by our values and we will also. Lead the world for freedom. Under my administration, I promise you.

As you can see, Pence definitely stated that America is his concern. Having said that, you’ll notice how he refused to answer Tucker’s entirely valid question about his support for Ukraine versus America.

But you know what? The truth isn’t going to save Pence. That’s because the out-of-context snippet cements what conservatives feel about Pence.

He’s definitely a social conservative, but he doesn’t speak loudly about issues other than abortion. It’s his purely political values, though, that are a concern. His fealty to funding Ukraine seems more aligned with the Uniparty than with putting America first. More than that, Trump supporters will never forgive him for meekly certifying questionable Electoral College votes.

In other words, Pence doesn’t have a broad conservative base. There are other conservative candidates who promise what he does (e.g., Trump, DeSantis, and Ramaswamy) without that icky Uniparty vibe.

Moreover, because Pence is viewed as an abortion absolutist and gay hater on the left (something Pete Buttigieg harps upon), Democrats despise him. In other words, Pence doesn’t have any support on the left. Not one Democrat would ever vote for him.

What this means is that, unless every other Republican candidate implodes, and Pence is, by default, the last man standing, I’d bet my last dollar that he can’t win on his merits.

I’m sure Pence knows that, too. That knowledge creates an interesting question: If he can’t possibly win, why is Pence running? I leave you to come up with answers to that question, although I suspect he lives in a bubble of people who prop him up, which only further highlights his disconnect from voters.

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