Former Vice President Mike Pence is offering a glimpse inside his brief encounter with President-elect Donald Trump at last week’s funeral for former President Jimmy Carter.
“He greeted me when he came down the aisle. I stood up, extended my hand. He shook my hand. I said, ‘Congratulations, Mr. President,’ and he said, ‘Thanks, Mike,’” Pence told Christianity Today.
Pence was Trump’s loyal sideman for much of his first term in office. However, a rift opened up between the two after the 2020 election, when Trump pressured Pence to block the certification of the results in Congress.
When Pence refused to do so, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Some had built a gallows outside and chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.”
Pence stands by his actions that day, calling it his “duty” under the Constitution to certify the election. He unsuccessfully ran against Trump for the Republican nomination last year, and didn’t endorse him ahead of the election.
Despite that history, Pence said he’s glad he got to speak to Trump.
“I’ve really been blessed at how much I’ve heard from people around the country who saw that handshake, and in that handshake, saw some hope that we might be moving past those difficult days,” he told Christianity Today. “That’s certainly my hope.”
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Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, wasn’t as cordial as she did not acknowledge Trump or Melania Trump when they arrived.
The former vice president was mum on what that meant.
“You’d have to ask my wife about her posture, but we’ve been married 44 years, and she loves her husband, and her husband respects her deeply,” he said.