Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Former Vice President Mike Pence will urge Republicans to move on from the 2020 election, declaring \u201cthere is no room in this party for apologists for Putin\u201d as he further cements his break from former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Pence, in a speech Friday evening to the party\u2019s top donors in New Orleans, will take on those in his party who have failed to forcefully condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom? There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,\u201d Pence will say, according to excerpts from the speech. \u201cThere is only room for champions of freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pence does not directly reference the former president in excerpts shared ahead of his remarks. But Trump has repeatedly used language that has been criticized as deferential to Putin, including calling the Russian leader \u201csmart\u201d while insisting the attack never would have happened on his watch.<\/p>\n
Pence will also continue to push back on Trump\u2019s lies about the 2020 election as he lays the groundwork for a possible 2024 presidential run. Trump, who has been teasing his own comeback bid that could potentially put the two in direct competition, has continued to falsely insist that Pence had the power to overturn the 2020 election, which he did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cElections are about the future,\u201d Pence will say. \u201cMy fellow Republicans, we can only win if we are united around an optimistic vision for the future based on our highest values. We cannot win by fighting yesterday\u2019s battles, or by relitigating the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pence has been increasingly willing to challenge Trump \u2014 a dramatic departure from his deferential posture as vice president.<\/p>\n
Pence has said the two men will likely never see \u201ceye to eye\u201d on the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the building in an effort to stop certification of Joe Biden\u2019s election victory. And last month, he directly rebutted Trump\u2019s false claims that he, as vice president, could have overturned the results, telling a gathering of lawyers in Florida that Trump was \u201cwrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, he will join the oft-stated view of Trump and others in the Republican Party Friday evening in blaming President Biden for Putin\u2019s actions, accusing the current president of having \u201csquandered the deterrence that our administration put in place to keep Putin and Russia from even trying to redraw international boundaries by force.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no coincidence that Russia waited until 2022 to invade Ukraine,\u201d Pence will say, according to excerpts. \u201cWeakness arouses evil, and the magnitude of evil sweeping across Ukraine speaks volumes about this president.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Pence allies believe that he can forge a coalition that brings together movement conservatives, white Evangelical Christians and more establishment-minded Republicans, Trump\u2019s attacks on Pence have made him deeply unpopular with large swaths of Trump\u2019s loyal base, potentially complicating his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.<\/p>\n
Pence on Jan. 6 had to be whisked to safety with his family as a mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol building, some chanting \u201cHang Mike Pence!<\/p>\n