- Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence received the Profile in Courage Award for certifying Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in the face of pressure from President Donald Trump and rioters at the Capitol.
- Pence and Trump's relationship has been strained since then, though Pence refrained from criticizing Trump in his acceptance speech.
- Pence did say in a later interview that Trump is departing from traditional conservative policies and said he would "be a voice" against those decisions.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who worked alongside President Donald Trump during his first term, received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Sunday in Washington.
The JFK Library Foundation, which grants the award, selected Pence for “putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Pence did not spend much time talking about the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol during his acceptance remarks, instead focusing his remarks on the Constitution.
“To forge a future together, we have to find common ground,” he said. “I hope in some small way my presence here tonight is a reminder that whatever differences we may have as Americans, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand. It’s what binds us across time and generations. ... It’s what makes us one people.”
‘By God’s grace, I did my duty that day’
Pence called Jan. 6 a “tragic day (that) became a triumph of freedom” in his speech.
“History will record that our institutions held,” he said. “Leaders in both chambers, in both political parties reconvened the very same day and finished democracy’s work under the Constitution. ... By God’s grace, I did my duty that day to support the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States of America.”
Former President John F. Kennedy’s daughter and grandson, Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg, presented the award.
“At the time I thought Vice President Pence was just doing his job,” said Caroline Kennedy. “Only later did I realize that his act of courage saved our government and warned us about what could happen and is happening right now.”
The Profile in Courage Award honors public servants ”whose actions demonstrate ... qualities of politically courageous leadership.” Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford have previously received the award.
The award is named for a book President Kennedy published in 1957, before he became president.
Though Pence refrained from mentioning Trump in his remarks at the award ceremony, he granted Fox News an interview afterward, in which he vowed to “be a voice” against parts of the current president’s agenda that he believes deviate from a traditional conservative agenda.
Nevertheless, he praised Trump for winning the presidency in 2024, “for securing our southern border, for restoring morale and recruitment in our military (and) for taking the fight to the Houthis.”
Trump has not yet commented on Pence’s reception of the award nor his subsequent remarks.
Divide between the president and former vice president
Following former President Joe Biden’s election win in 2020, Pence’s role was to certify the election results.
Pence was criticized by Trump supporters who believed the election was unfair. During the Jan. 6 riots, protesters erected gallows and a noose on the west lawn of the Capitol and chanted “hang Mike Pence.”
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump posted on social media as the Jan. 6 riots were ongoing.
Pence and Trump’s relationship has remained strained since then. Pence criticized Trump in a memoir he released in 2022 for attacking “those of us who defended the Constitution.” Trump has criticized Pence as well, at one point calling him “delusional.”