Pence Plays to Evangelicals, Touts Record With Trump, in Speech to Pro-Israel Group

Former Vice President Mike Pence touted his work in support of Israel while in office with former President Donald Trump, and spoke at times with soaring rhetoric about the United States’ ties to Israel in a speech Monday to the Christians United for Israel. 

Pence, who is now running against Trump for the Republican nomination, paid deference to the former president throughout his speech in a way that he rarely has in his campaign stops ever since the January 6th attack on the Capitol. 

“It’s amazing just to know that the Jewish people are once again living and working and worshiping on the same land that their ancestors owned 1000s of years ago,” Pence said. “And that's why I'm so proud that the Trump-Pence administration declared that the communities of Judea and Samaria [more commonly known as the West Bank] are not inconsistent with international law.”

Of the three White House contenders to speak to the influential group of Christian right activists and conservative Jewish leaders, Pence was the only one to credit Trump in his remarks. 

Speaking earlier in the day Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took credit for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem without mentioning Trump. And former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, blasted President Joe Biden for opposing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to curb the Israeli courts’ oversight of his administration. 

Pence, an evangelical Christian, has long been an ardent supporter of Israel, dating back to his time in Congress. He was given the Defender of Israel award by Christians United for Israel, Monday night. 

Trump, who dined with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and antisemitic rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) shortly after announcing his third White House bid last year, was not invited to speak to the influential group. 

But the former president touted his support for Israel with a campaign video last month which showed him kissing the Western Wall in Jerusalem when he was in office, before he received what amounted to an implicit endorsement from a different group of evangelical Christians led by longtime Republican activist Ralph Reed. 

Pence has maintained steady support in third place in most national polling of Republicans through the early stages of the 2024 race. But he is in danger of not making it to the stage for the first Republican debate next month after reporting that he took in $1.2 million in donations and has not yet met the 40,000 individual donor threshold set by the Republican National Committee. 

Throughout his speech Monday night, Pence harkened back to the Bible and even joked at times about why an Irish American who was raised in Southern Indiana would support Israel. 

Recalling his time in Congress, Pence said Democratic lawmakers would sometimes ask him after a pro-Israel speech if there was a sizable Jewish population in rural Indiana. 

“They'd always say to me, ‘What's your mother's maiden name?’” Pence said, laughing a bit as he recalled the anecdote. 

“And I would always tell them that my love for Israel springs from the heart of a Heartland boy who can tell you firsthand what all of you in CUFI already know, that love for Israel echoes from every little buck-board church beside every cornfield all across America,” Pence said to resounding applause throughout the room.