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Mike Pence says the Republican Party will need to do some serious soul-searching and reestablish its “high standards” after the Trump administration’s “air of corruption” embittered the American people, as evidenced by the midterm blue tsunami.
The former vice president was Sunday’s guest Meet the presswhere he stated that the perception that Trump and his family are getting richer while he is in office is an issue that many Americans disagree with, but Pence did not outright state that Trump had done anything illegal or unethical.
“I think the stories about the cabinet officials and the stories about the family of the cabinet officials and the stories about the first family have been troubling to the American people,” Pence told NBC News host Kristen Welker.
He added: “Look, the president was a successful businessman long before he took office and no one blames him or the Trump family for continuing to be in business – but a billion-dollar increase in your net worth from cryptocurrency is staggering to Americans. »
Pence was referring to Trump earning more than $1.4 billion last year from his cryptocurrency business dealings, but the White House — which has repeatedly pointed out that Trump placed his businesses in a trust managed by his sons — denied that he was profiting from the presidency. Instead, the administration said he was a successful investor, like so many others who purchased the coins in question.
Still, Pence says he knows full well it’s a problem, because as he travels around the country, his supporters tell him that the original 2016 promise, made when he was Trump’s No. 2, to “drain the swamp” has failed.
“So I really believe that for the Republican Party going forward, it will be essential that we return our party to the conservative principles that have been essentially synonymous with the Republican Party for 50 years. But returning our party to the high standards of public service will be just as important,” he said.
Pence also told Welker that he thought current Vice President JD Vance was “wrong” to blame the war in Iran on the Republican Party’s midterm losses, which he did shortly after the bombings.
“We didn’t lose these midterm elections because of war. I think part of the reason voters were turned off is that after seeing our military respond brilliantly during Operation Epic Fury and the strike on Iran last year, for inexplicable reasons, we called it quits after five weeks,” Pence said.
Pence drove home the point with an old adage: “You don’t make peace with your enemy, you make peace with your defeated enemy.” »
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
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