Former Vice President Mike Pence acknowledges his staff members as he speaks after receiving the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award during a ceremony at the JFK Library, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
And the former vice president, pointing to his actions on Jan. 6, said to a standing ovation, "I will always believe by God’s grace that I did my duty that day."
In a Fox News Digital interview minutes after the awards ceremony, Pence said, "in all my travels across the country in the last four years, I've been deeply humbled by how many Americans have come up to me and just taken a point to encourage us and support us, and it convinces me that the American people know that what ever differences we may have, the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand."
The now-65-year-old Pence was Indiana's governor when Trump named him his running mate in 2016. For four years, Pence served as the loyal vice president to Trump during the president's first term in the White House.
However, everything changed on Jan. 6, 2021, as right-wing extremists — including some chanting "hang Mike Pence" — stormed the U.S. Capitol aiming to upend congressional certification, overseen by Pence as part of his constitutional duties as vice president, of Biden’s Electoral College victory.
The attack on the Capitol took place soon after Trump spoke to a large rally of supporters near the White House about unproven claims that the 2020 election was "rigged" due to massive "voter fraud."
Pence has long described the violent attack on the Capitol as "tragic" and dishonoring to "the millions of people who had supported our cause around the country." He has emphasized that he did "the right thing" and performed his "duty under the Constitution." He has also noted a number of times that he and Trump may never "see eye to eye on that day."
Former Vice President Mike Pence formally announced his candidacy for president in Ankeny, Iowa, on June 7, 2023. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Pence in June 2023 launched a presidential campaign of his own, joining a large field of challengers to Trump gunning for the 2024 GOP nomination, becoming the first running mate in over 80 years to run against their former boss.
Pence ran on a traditional conservative platform, framing the future of the Republican Party against what he called the rise of "populism" in the party.
Among the slim anti-Trump base of the Republican Party, Pence received praise for his courage during the attack on the Capitol, often receiving thanks at town halls during his campaign for standing up to Trump.
While Pence regularly campaigned in the crucial early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, his White House bid never took off. Struggling in the polls and with fundraising, he suspended his campaign just four and a half months after declaring his candidacy.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, second from right, stands with his wife, Karen Pence, far right, as he is presented with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award by Jack Schlossberg and his mother, Caroline Kennedy, at a ceremony at the JFK Library, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Caroline Kennedy, in honoring the former vice president, noted her "political differences" with Pence, but emphasized that "political courage is not outdated in the United States."
And Pence, a well-known fiscal and social conservative, joked about speaking in front of an audience dominated by Democrats, saying that he was "the minority in this room."
After dropping his own bid for the White House, Pence declined to endorse Trump, even after Trump clinched the GOP nomination last spring, though he did congratulate his former running mate after his victory last November.
Trump and Pence were seen shaking hands at former President Jimmy Carter's funeral in early January – their first public appearance together in nearly four years.
TRUMP, PENCE SHAKE HANDS AT CARTER FUNERAL IN FIRST PUBLIC MEETING SINCE LEAVING OFFICE
Former Vice President Al Gore (left) watches as former Vice President Mike Pence (center) shakes hands with then-President-elect Donald Trump before a State Funeral Service for the late President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Pence has emerged as a rare vocal Republican critic of Trump so far during the president's second tour of duty in the White House.
He has critiqued Trump's controversial and haphazard implementation of massive tariffs on America's largest trading partners, which initially sparked a massive stock market sell-off, and raised concerns of increased inflation and talk of a recession.
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He has also criticized the president's upending of longstanding American foreign policy and has urged Trump to stand with longtime international allies.
Pence's public advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom, also campaigned against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation’s health agencies.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-vice-president-mike-pence-honored-kennedy-family-receiving-jfk-profile-courage-award