Pence: Washington should focus on inflation and gas prices, not ‘tragic’ riot at Capitol

Former Vice President Mike Pence says he will not let Democrats use the House’s Jan. 6 hearings to shift attention from President Biden’s failures and the challenges facing the nation.

Mr. Pence has emerged as a central figure in the House select committee hearings. Members of the Democrat-controlled panel have praised him for rejecting former President Donald Trump’s request to reject the Electoral College results as part of a push to overturn the 2020 election.

“Jan. 6 was a tragic day, and I know we did our duty, but I will always be proud of our record,” Mr. Pence said in an interview Monday with Fox News. “And I am not going to allow the Democrats to use that tragic day to distract attention from their failed agenda or to demean the intentions of 74 million Americans who rallied behind our cause.”

“At a time when we have inflation at a 40-year-high, gasoline prices more than doubled since we left office, a crisis at our southern border, war in Eastern Europe, a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, maybe this just comes from living back in Indiana again, but, those are the things I’m focused on, and frankly, those are the things people talk to me about everywhere,” Mr. Pence said. “The issues that are bearing upon the American people are, as is often the case, not what Washington is focused on.”

He also reiterated that his eventual decision on running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination will not be affected by whether Mr. Trump runs again.

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has continued to criticize Mr. Pence for not following his Jan. 6 orders, telling the recent Faith and Freedom Conference in Nashville that Mr. Pence missed a chance to be “great” and “historic.”

“Mike did not have the courage to act,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Pence said he and Mr. Trump “were close friends” and they spoke somewhat regularly after they left office.

“And now, I think we’ve kind of gone our separate ways over the last year, but I’ll always be proud of the record we created,” the former vice president said.

Mr. Pence said he doesn’t know whether he and Mr. Trump will “ever see eye to eye” about his role in certifying the election results, but he “will always be proud” of the record of achievement on their watch.

“We delivered for the American people,” he said.