Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized his former running mate’s approach to the national debt Sunday. Pence said that former President Donald Trump makes “no such promise” to govern as a conservative if he is elected in 2024.
The former vice president criticized Trump on several positions, which Pence argued were not strong enough. This included what Pence asserted as Trump “walking away from a clear commitment to the right to life.”
However, Pence’s strongest comments were related to the nation’s $32 trillion national debt. The Republican said that the policy of President Joe Biden is “insolvency,” specifically mentioning that most of the nation’s debt is driven by entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
Pence said that Trump’s “position on the national debt is identical to Joe Biden’s. And to me, the Republican Party has to be the party of growth, and fiscal responsibility and reform. I think we owe it to those kids of mine and yours, to my granddaughters, to square our shoulders and be straight with the American people about the magnitude of this national debt.”
The former vice president linked large deficits and spending since Biden took office to high inflation, which he said was “crushing the family budgets of millions of Americans, two-thirds of which are living paycheck to paycheck.”
“They’re starting, in my judgment, to understand that, as government wraps up debt, inflation is happening, and it’s crushing,” he said.
Donald Trump’s position on the national debt is identical to Joe Biden’s. The Republican Party has to be the party of growth, fiscal responsibility and reform. pic.twitter.com/2Ur4qofUUu
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) June 18, 2023
Pence’s stance may not make a major impact on the 2024 Republican primary race if recent polling is any indication. The former Indiana governor currently rates at just over 5% in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump commands a clear majority, with just under 53% and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) commands about 20%.
Pence received some positive news from the most recent Harvard/Harris poll, which noted an increase in his polling to 8%. However, Pence was more than 50% behind the former president, who ranked at 59% of Republican primary voters. DeSantis achieved 14% while no other contender reached 5%.
