Former vice president Mike Pence did not say whether he would pardon former president Donald Trump in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
Fox News host Shannon Bream asked Mr Trump’s former running-mate about whether he would pardon the former president. Mr Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 37 federal charges related to him illegally retaining documents related to national defence and other classified material at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“Well, look, if I were the president of the United States, I would take the pardon authority very seriously,” he said, noting how as governor of Indiana he pardoned people and took the task seriously. “I would apply that to every single case in that matter. But I appreciate you raising the point.”
But the former vice president said that too many Republicans who are talking about pardoning Mr Trump don’t have all the facts.
“I don’t understand why some of the other people running for president in the Republican primary assume that the president will be found guilty,” he said. “I think it's terribly premature and it shows really a disrespect for our judicial system to talk about that now.”
Republican presidential candidates such as businessman Vivek Ramaswamy have said he would pardon Mr Trump if he were elected president. Conservative talk radio hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton had asked Mr Pence earlier this month whether he would pardon Mr Trump before he was indicted, as they had of Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who said he would.
Mr Pence also reiterated what he said earlier this month when he said he could not defend Mr Trump from the allegations in the indictment.
“I think we need to let the process go forward, let the former president make his case,” he said at the time. “For my part, I’m going to stay focused on the challenges facing the American people and I’m going to work our heart out not just to win the Republican nomination, but to win a great victory for our party and for the American people in 2024.”
