Pence to speak on ‘rule of law’ after Trump insists he could overturn election

Speech will come days after former president reignited feud

Former Vice President Mike Pence will deliver an address about constitutional authority and the rule of law in America as he faces a withering barrage of criticism from his former boss for not interfering in the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump administration to Joe Biden’s presidency.

Mr Pence will speak on Friday in Florida, The Washington Post first reported, about what a spokesperson told the Post was to be an address on “constitutional principles and the rule of law”.

Though the statement did not mention it, Mr Pence’s event comes just days after a Mr Trump launched a new barrage of attacks against Mr Pence, wrongly asserting that he had the power to overturn the 2020 election, and openly insisting that the vice president should have done so despite every court challenge of Mr Trump’s 2020 defeat coming up short.

The former vice president has remained active on the political state since his public break with Mr Trump over the campaign to overturn the 2020 election last year; Mr Trump has publicly and privately excoriated his former running mate while at the same time engaging in efforts to purge the GOP of any who did not go along with his false claims about voter fraud causing his defeat to Joe Biden.

Mr Pence recently spoke at several events around the Washington DC area as he attempts to remain a fixture in GOP circles for the next three year; he is seen as one of several ex-Trump administration figures interested in vying for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2024.

The Independent has reached out to the former vice president’s team for more information about his plans to speak in Florida.

The top obstacle to his effort to raise his profile as a viable 2024 candidate remains former President Donald Trump, who is still the widespread favourite to win the 2024 nomination according to all recent polling and has proved willing to wage a public war against any Republican who did not bow to his wishes in 2020.

That includes Mr Pence, who was the target of a pair of his most recent furious statement about the 2020 election: “the Unselect Committee should be investigating why Nancy Pelosi did such a poor job of overseeing security and why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval, in that it has now been shown that he clearly had the right to do so!” Mr Trump wrote in one, referring to the House’s select committee investigating January 6.

“Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Mr Trump said in another statement.

Now the GOP has three years to decide what to do about the former president’s false claims of voter fraud and election shenanigans that could presumably cause a major constitutional crisis (again) in 2024 and potentially cause headaches for the Republican Party’s management of the primary process if Mr Trump finds reason to contest a victory from one of his potential rivals.

The location of Mr Pence’s plans to speak, Florida, is also somewhat significant given that the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has emerged as another potential top contender in 2024, and has engaged in his own public back-and-forth with Mr Trump over the issue of Covid-19 vaccines.

Mr Trump now also lives in the state, primarily at his properties including the resort at Mar-a-Lago, and has held court regularly among supporters at his clubs while amassing a huge campaign war chest with more than $100 million cash on hand.