Trump and Pence outline separate agendas in D.C. speeches
Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday delivered speeches at separate events in Washington, D.C., in which they laid out their dueling visions for the future of the Republican Party.
Trump, speaking at the America First Policy Institute Summit, delivered an address that focused mainly on law and order. He called for the swift execution of drug dealers, praising similar policies in China and Singapore. Trump also advocated deploying the National Guard to high-crime neighborhoods in Chicago, even over the objections of local authorities. It was only toward the end of the speech that he claimed to have "won a second time" in 2020.
Aside from a few references to critical race theory and defending women's sports, Pence's address laying out his new "Freedom Agenda" at the Young America's Foundation Student Conference could have been delivered in 2012. Main points included cutting taxes, implementing "free-market solutions in healthcare," securing the border, and expanding the military. He also celebrated the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade (1973), an issue entirely absent from Trump's remarks.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The speech was far from a repudiation of Trump, however. The former vice president referred eight times to the "Trump-Pence administration." Trump never mentioned Pence.
During the Q&A session, Pence claimed that he and Trump differ in "focus," not "on issues." Pence added that the GOP must not "give way to the temptation to look back," perhaps making a veiled reference to Trump's stolen election claims.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
Film reviews: ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Wake Up Dead Man’ and ‘Eternity’Feature Grief inspires Shakespeare’s greatest play, a flamboyant sleuth heads to church and a long-married couple faces a postmortem quandary
-
Poems can force AI to reveal how to make nuclear weaponsUnder The Radar ‘Adversarial poems’ are convincing AI models to go beyond safety limits
-
The military: When is an order illegal?Feature Trump is making the military’s ‘most senior leaders complicit in his unlawful acts’
-
The military: When is an order illegal?Feature Trump is making the military’s ‘most senior leaders complicit in his unlawful acts’
-
Ukraine and Rubio rewrite Russia’s peace planFeature The only explanation for this confusing series of events is that ‘rival factions’ within the White House fought over the peace plan ‘and made a mess of it’
-
The powerful names in the Epstein emailsIn Depth People from a former Harvard president to a noted linguist were mentioned
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
-
Andriy Yermak: how weak is Zelenskyy without his right-hand man?Today's Big Question Resignation of Ukrainian president’s closest ally marks his ‘most politically perilous moment yet’
-
The US-Saudi relationship: too big to fail?Talking Point With the Saudis investing $1 trillion into the US, and Trump granting them ‘major non-Nato ally’ status, for now the two countries need each other
-
Could Trump run for a third term?The Explainer Constitutional amendment limits US presidents to two terms, but Trump diehards claim there is a loophole
