前副总统迈克·彭斯周二在接受美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)的林西·戴维斯(Linsey Davis)采访时表示，他的前竞选搭档、前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)应该在加利福尼亚州的西米谷(Simi Valley)面临与其他竞选人相同的问题，距离大选还有几个小时第二次共和党初选辩论.
彭斯在罗纳德·里根总统图书馆外说:“嗯，我认为他应该回答选民的棘手问题，并分享他对我们带领这个国家摆脱拜登政府失败政策的愿景。”。“我认为，今天的唐纳德·特朗普与2016年的唐纳德·特朗普不同。你打赌我认为他应该在辩论舞台上。”
“他应该让我们所有竞争提名的人都参与进来。他应该分享他的愿景，”他补充道。“但就我而言，我将继续分享一位久经考验的保守派的愿景，他知道那些相同的想法，那些我们治理的想法，那些罗纳德·里根提出并在20世纪80年代带美国回来的想法，那些今天将带美国回来的想法。”
当被问及对前白宫助手卡西迪·哈钦森的反应时，这位前副总统提供了他对1月6日的一贯说法在她的新书中声称特朗普在观看袭击展开时，与暴徒一起重复了“绞死迈克·彭斯”的部分口号。
“嗯，我不在那里。我不知道白宫西翼发生了什么。我是——那天我坚守岗位，”彭斯说。“无论在白宫发生了什么，我知道我们那天所做的，执法部门所做的平息了暴乱，使我们有可能在同一天重新召集国会，完成我们在美国宪法下的工作。这一天的悲剧变成了自由的胜利，我再也不会以其他方式看待它了。”
当戴维斯问现在在竞选活动中提出纽约法官周二的裁决是否公平时，彭斯说他“不熟悉法官的裁决”特朗普应对欺诈负责但他说，“任何美国人都可以对总统做出判断。”
“瞧，舞台上的任何人都可以提出他们想提出的任何问题。我将专注于美国人民关注的问题，以及我致力于带来那些在过去50年中定义了我们党的保守解决方案的事实，而唐纳德·特朗普和其他人正在遵循民粹主义的警笛歌，并希望带领我们的党采取一系列完全不同的政策，我认为这些政策将在我们试图摆脱拜登政府的失败时为国家服务。”
2023年9月15日，共和党总统候选人、前副总统迈克·彭斯在祈祷投票站峰会上发表讲话。
何塞·路易斯·马加纳/美联社
彭斯一直小心翼翼地不疏远任何一方美国汽车工人联合会罢工但他对戴维斯说，他将此归咎于拜登总统议程下的经济。
“这是一个自由的国家。乔·拜登可以去纠察线拿一个扩音器，谈论他对UAW成员的支持，但我必须告诉你，你知道，我来自全国第二大制造业州...我认为把这些人放在纠察线上的不是你听到的阶级斗争政治，我认为是拜登经济学失败了。工资没有跟上通货膨胀，汽车工人知道这一点，就像所有美国工人一样，”彭斯说。
“我听说他没有在纠察线上逗留很长时间，”彭斯补充道，暗示工会工人可以“在摄像机没有转动时把他拉到一边”，质疑“这一咄咄逼人的电动汽车议程。”
“这是推动罢工的问题，”他说。“如果我是总统，我们将回到上述所有的能源战略。”
而包括彭斯在内的七名共和党候选人预计将周三晚上的辩论在加利福尼亚州，特朗普正在密歇根州举行集会，也是为了加强汽车工人的支持，跳过了他的第二场初选辩论。
在最后一场辩论中，经验丰富的辩手彭斯的发言时间比他的任何竞争对手都长，他将攻击矛头指向政治新人维韦克·拉马斯瓦米(Vivek Ramaswamy)，有时还打断主持人，让他们进入讨论的主题。
这位前副总统继续在一位数的民调中领先，这从他在辩论舞台上的位置可以看出，但他的团队仍然对胜利充满信心，并把重点放在爱荷华州。
支持彭斯的超级政治行动委员会(super PAC)承诺支持美国，在辩论前的一份备忘录中告诉捐助者，他们在爱荷华州敲了超过50万扇门，声称是该州第一个这样做的组织，并将彭斯称为“唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的明显保守替代者。”
Mike Pence calls out Trump for skipping debate: 'He ought to be on that debate stage'
In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday with ABC News' Linsey Davis, former vice president Mike Pence said his former running mate, former President Donald Trump, should be facing the same questions in Simi Valley, California, as the rest of the field, with hours to go until thesecond Republican primary debate.
"Well, I think he owes it to voters to answer the tough questions and to share his vision for where we lead this country out of the failed policies of the Biden administration," Pence said from outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. "I think that Donald Trump today is different than the Donald Trump of 2016. And you bet I think he ought to be on that debate stage."
"He ought to be engaging all of us that are vying for this nomination. He ought to be sharing his vision," he added. "But for my part, I'm going to continue to share a vision of a tested proven conservative that knows those same ideas, those ideas we governed on, those ideas that Ronald Reagan brought forward and brought America back in the 1980s, they're the ideas that are going to bring America back today."
The former vice president offered his usual account of Jan. 6, when asked to react to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinsonclaiming in her new bookthat Trump repeated parts of the "Hang Mike Pence" chant along with rioters while watching the attack unfold.
"Well, I wasn't there. I have no idea what was happening at the West Wing. I was -- I stayed at my post that day," Pence said. "Whatever happened down at the White House, I know that what we did that day, what law enforcement did quelling that riot and making it possible for us to reconvene the Congress the very same day and complete our work under the Constitution of the United States. It took a day of tragedy and made it a triumph of freedom, and I'll never see it any other way."
Pence said he was "not familiar with the judge's ruling," when Davis asked if it's fair now to raise on the campaign trail how a New York judge on Tuesday foundTrump liable for fraud, but said, "judgments about the president can be made by any American."
"Look, anybody on that stage can bring up any issues they want. I'm going to be focused on the issues the American people are focused on, and the fact that I'm committed to bringing those conservative solutions that have defined our party over the last 50 years, to bear on it, while Donald Trump and others are following a siren song of populism and want to lead our party to a whole different range of policies that I think will ill serve the nation as we try and find our way out of the failures of the Biden administration."
Pence has been cautious not to alienate either side amid theUnited Auto Workers strikebut told Davis he blames the economy under President Joe Biden's agenda for driving it.
"It's a free country. Joe Biden can go to the picket line and grab a bullhorn and talk about his support for members of the UAW, but I gotta tell you, you know, I come from the second leading manufacturing state in the country... I think what's putting those people on the picket line is not the class warfare politics you're hearing about, I think it's that Bidenomics has failed. Wages are not keeping up with inflation, and auto workers know it, just like all American workers," Pence said.
"I heard he didn't stick around very long on the picket line," Pence added, suggesting union workers could have "pulled him aside when the cameras weren't rolling" to question "this aggressive electric vehicle agenda."
"That's the issue that's driving that strike," he said. "And if I'm president, we're gonna go back to it all of the above energy strategy."
While seven Republican candidates including Pence are expected todebate on Wednesday nightin California, Trump is holding a rally in Michigan to also shore up support among auto workers, skipping out on his second primary debate.
Pence, a seasoned debater, spoke longer than any of his competitors at the last debate, directing his attacks at political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy and, at times, interrupting the moderators to get in on the topic of discussion.
The former vice president continues to poll in the single digits, indicated by his position on the debate stage, but his team remains confident in a pathway to victory with a heavy focus on Iowa.
Committed to America, a super PAC backing Pence, told donors in a pre-debate memo that they have surpassed 500,000 doors knocked in Iowa, claiming to be the first organization in the state to do so, and branding Pence as "the clear conservative alternative to Donald Trump."
