Former vice-president Mike Pence slams Trump over recent controversies

Donald Trump’s former vice president and ally Mike Pence has slammed the US president’s recent controversies, from tariffs to treatment of Ukraine.

Pence served as Trump’s vice president from 2017 and 2021 during his first tenure as president, which ended turbulently when Pence refused to bow to Trump’s pressure to overturn the 2020 election result, electing Joe Biden, which earned him the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award.

Speaking to CNN, Pence slammed Trump’s current administration and their controversial actions.

Pence criticised the White House’s “wavering” support for Ukraine and declared that Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want peace”, despite what Trump would like to have people believe.

“It’s the reason why, in this moment, we need to make it clear that the United States is going to continue to lead the free world, to provide Ukraine with the military support they need to repel the Russian invasion and achieve a just and lasting peace,” Pence said.

“The wavering support the administration has shown over the last few months, I believe, has only emboldened Russia.”

Pence also slammed Trump’s pardon of January 6 rioters, who stormed the US Capitol and chanted “hang Mike Pence” when he went against Trump’s demands and certified the election result.

“I was deeply disappointed to see President Trump pardon people that engaged in violence against law enforcement officers that day. The president has every right under the Constitution to grant pardons, but in that moment, I thought it sent the wrong message,” the former vice president said.

Pence also came for Trump’s tariff policy, which has seen the president threaten to implement sweeping tariffs on goods being imported from almost every country in the world. Pence believes this will ultimately be “not a win for the American people”,

“I do have concerns that, with the president’s call for broad-based tariffs against friend and foe alike, that ultimately the administration is advancing policies that are not targeted at countries that have been abusing our trade relationship, but rather are essentially new industrial policy that will result in inflation, that will harm consumers and that will ultimately harm the American economy,” he said.

After the current 90-day pause, Pence argued, “Even the administration has conceded that there may be a price shock in the economy, and there may be shortages”.

“I think the American people are going to see the consequences of this. I think they’ll demand a different approach,” he added.

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