SAN JOSE, Calif. — Fresh from calling his old boss “wrong” about the 2020 election, former Vice President Mike Pence will bring his fledgling campus speaking tour to Stanford University later this month, his first stop in a blue state.
Pence’s talk on Feb. 17, billed as “How to Save America from the Woke Left,” is expected to focus on “American freedom” and “traditional values,” among other topics. But while the invitation to a conservative speaker from the Stanford College Republicans has whipped up the traditional controversy on campus, the political world is more focused on whether Pence will talk about another hot topic: His increasingly icy relationship with former President Donald Trump.
Pence drew fire from Trump supporters during a talk Friday in Florida when he said Trump was “wrong” to assert that Pence had the right to overturn the 2020 election results on Jan. 6 last year, when armed insurrectionists invaded the U.S. Capitol. The comment marked his strongest rebuke of Trump’s unfounded claims.
The former vice president, political analysts said, likely doomed his future political prospects, including chances at the presidency, by calling out Trump and enraging the former president’s allies.
Steve Bannon, embattled former Trump adviser, blasted Pence as a “stone-cold coward” on his podcast.
For now, Pence appears likely to stick to more traditional GOP talking points at Stanford. The stop is Pence’s third on a 2021-22 campus tour put together by the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a conservative youth organization led by former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. He previously spoke at the University of Iowa and Texas A&M University. Pence joined YAF last year as the organization’s Ronald Reagan presidential scholar.
“As freedom comes under attack in our schools,” he said in a statement, “it’s imperative that the next generation ensures the advancement of pro-America ideas, and I’m excited to partner with the Stanford College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation to take the case for freedom, free markets, and traditional values to the rising generation and to ensure the torch of freedom shines bright for generations to come.”
The upcoming speech at Dinkelspiel Auditorium has generated some controversy on campus. According to the student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, the Undergraduate Senate originally rejected the Republican student group’s request for funding, citing COVID-19 risks. The denial prompted the group to accuse the Senate of discriminating against their conservative views and challenge the decision, which was reversed.
Pence, a socially conservative, evangelical Christian Republican who made headlines for refusing to dine alone with a woman who is not his wife and supported Trump during his time in office, has downplayed the coronavirus, opposed abortion and sought to defund Planned Parenthood. But in his younger days, Pence, whose family has Irish Catholic roots like current President Joe Biden, served as youth coordinator for the local Democrats and voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Still, he is far from the most controversial speaker the college Republicans have brought to campus. Previously, the group has hosted conservative political commentators Dinesh D’Souza and Ben Shapiro. Shapiros’ talk drew protests. Stanford did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether the university is expecting protests or planning any special security measures around Pence’s lecture.
In 2017, UC Berkeley shelled out $800,000 and brought in police from eight law enforcement agencies and campuses across the state for a roughly 15-minute appearance by alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
The Stanford College Republicans did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The very ‘woke’ left-wing ideology currently spreading across the country first achieved ascendancy at university campuses such as Stanford,” Stephen Sills, the group’s financial officer, said in a statement, “so it is fitting to have the Vice President come and tackle divisive ‘woke’ ideology right where it started.”
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