US: Mike Pence slams Trump for praising Vladimir Putin amid Russia's Ukraine invasion

Former US Vice President Mike Pence slammed Donald Trump for praising Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe. Pence asked Republicans to look past the 2020 election and said that apologists for Putin have no place in the Republican Party, further cementing his separation with former President Donald Trump. Addressing the Republican Party's top donors last week in New Orleans, Pence chastised members of his own party for failing to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin's unjustified invasion of Ukraine.

"Where 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. There is only room for champions of freedom," he stated, as per the Associated Press (AP). Pence did not make a direct reference to the former President

However, Trump has used language that has been condemned as being deferential to Putin, such as calling Putin "smart" while asserting the attack would never have happened under his watch. Trump had also hailed the Russian President for "declaring a large portion of Ukraine as independent."

Pence slams Trump for spreading lies about 2020 election

As he prepares for a prospective presidential candidacy in 2024, Pence continued to push back on Trump's lies about the 2020 election. Trump has often claimed that Pence had the capacity to "overturn the 2020 election," however, he could never substantiate his claims. "Elections are about the future. My 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’s battles, or by relitigating the past," Pense added. 

"The presidency belongs to people of the United States': Pence

According to the former US Vice President, Trump was mistaken in believing Pence could have intervened to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump erroneously claimed was stolen from him. "The presidency belongs to the people of the United States, and the American people alone. And, to be honest, no idea is more un-American than the idea that one person could choose the President of the United States," Pence added. In an attempt to keep power after losing his re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020, Republicans Trump had persuaded Pence to withhold legislative certification of the results. However, Pence, the then loyalist of Trump, had chosen not to do so. 

(With inputs from AP)