Looking back on the events of Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence told a crowd of California Republicans on Thursday night that he will "always be proud to have played a small part on that tragic day when we reconvened the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States."
Pence delivered his address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley as part of a series of events discussing the future of the Republican Party. On Jan. 6, supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to try to interfere with the certification of President Biden's victory. Trump falsely claimed that Pence had the authority to stop the proceedings, and some members of the mob shouted, "Hang Mike Pence!"
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.
Pence did praise Trump, comparing him to Reagan and saying both men energized the GOP. He called on Republicans to be the "loyal opposition" to Democrats, and said they must stick to "our party's traditional conservative priorities — maintaining a strong national defense, free market economics, traditional values, and the right to life." At the same time, the GOP agenda needs to also include the "new pillars that President Trump brought to the fore as we served — ideas that fired the imagination of everyday Americans and expanded the reach and appeal of the Republican Party."
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Young Republicans: Does the GOP have a Nazi problem?Feature Leaked chats from members of the Young Republican National Federation reveal racist slurs and Nazi jokes
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
