Former vice president Mike Pence has now stated clearly that he won’t be endorsing Donald Trump, the president he served under, this year, and that promise made “The View” host Alyssa Farah Griffin get a little teary — but in a good way.
Pence explained his decision during a Sunday appearance on “Face the Nation,” admitting that he’s forgiven Trump for backing the idea of hanging Pence on January 6, but noting that there are other issues he can’t overlook.
“The reason that I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump this year also has to do with the fact that he is walking away,” Pence explained. “Not just from keeping faith with the constitution on that day, but also, Margaret, with a commitment to fiscal responsibility, a commitment to the sanctity of life, a commitment to American leadership in the world.”
On Monday’s episode of the show, the ABC hosts largely applauded Pence’s public split from Trump, but host Sunny Hostin admitted she “wanted even more” and wished Pence had “gone further” with his condemnation (especially considering the fact that Pence was among those who raised their hands when asked during an August debate whether they’d support Trump if he became the GOP nominee).
But Alyssa Farah Griffin was thrilled with her old boss, arguing that no one should “undercount the significance of this,” considering a VP has never not endorsed the president they served under, and saying that, “To me, this should’ve been front page of all news.”
“Pence coming out — this is a person who’s been in the conservative movement before anyone even talked about Donald Trump in politics,” Farah Griffin said. “There are people like me all over the country, who trust him. They think he’s a man of faith, he’s likely who brought them around to Trump in 2016.”
She continued, “And for him to say this, I mean, I teared up when I saw it, ’cause I said on this show, ‘Nothing will break my heart more than if Mike Pence endorses Donald Trump.’ And he didn’t, ’cause he knows better than anyone, this man is historically unfit, he’s dangerous.”
For host Ana Navarro, not endorsing Trump seemed like an obvious move, especially considering the near-lynching.
“I think the least he could do is not endorse the guy who put him and his family in danger that day, and so many other people in the Capitol,” Navarro said.
That said, the host did agree that publicly splitting from Trump is important, and even if it only sways a few voters, it could still have an impact. She also pointed out that previous Trump critics have caved and endorsed him at this point.
“So I think that Mike Pence is doing something that’s much better, and I hope he’s sending a message to Republicans and independent moderates, right-siding moderates, that it’s OK not to be partisan,” Navarro said.
You can watch the full discussion from “The View” in the video above.
