![]() Never before in American history has the sitting vice president challenged the former president of his own party. The dueling appearances come amid an increasingly icy and unprecedented point in their relationship. In addition, both will speak at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition spring kick off next week, although Trump will be giving his speech remotely. “They’ll choreograph it,” a person close to both Trump and Pence orbits said. And on both occasions, Trump will have the last word. The two are unlikely to cross paths, a person familiar with the logistics of the event told POLITICO. Pence and Trump are both addressing top RNC donors in Nashville this weekend. And it will be the first of a series of events ahead of the 2024 presidential primary where they will both be featured speakers. The cattle call in front of rank-and-file NRA members amid what is advertised to be “14 acres of guns & gear” this weekend will be the first time that both Pence and Trump have shared a stage since they left office. A person familiar with those discussions, who has not taken a position on the 2024 primary, confirmed the exchange. In an effort to further draw a distinction, a Pence ally said that in a subsequent 2018 Oval Office meeting, Pence talked Trump down from those restrictions. That article detailed an infamous gathering of lawmakers following the Parkland, Fla. Diane Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) positive reaction to Trump’s willingness to consider firearm restrictions: “ Feinstein can’t contain her glee in gun control meeting with Trump.” And, indeed, when asked for comment, a Pence adviser sent a February 2018 Daily Mail item referencing Sen. The reversal is part of an effort to paint Trump as unreliable on Second Amendment rights. “It will make for interesting political theater,” said a Republican close to past such NRA proceedings who has met with both Trump and Pence on the issue of firearms, and was granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. Pence advocated for red flag laws as vice president, but has since disavowed the idea, with his Advancing American Freedom group coming out against it in March 2022. Those two issues were ones Trump was open to or acted upon during his administration. “And it’s really a debate about whether or not the Republican Party is going to continue to hew to the common-sense conservative agenda that has defined our movement over the last 50 years or whether we’re going to, we’re going to heed the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles.What Pence won’t talk about, though, is perhaps more instructive: Championing red flag laws that give law enforcement officials the opportunity to intervene when a person is deemed as high-risk, as well as banning bump stocks. “I really do believe that we’re now, after Labor Day, engaged in an important debate over the future of the party that will bear upon the future of America,” Pence told NBC News on Tuesday. Pence did not mention other candidates as specifically Wednesday - but he talked about policies some of them hold, such as being unwilling to reform entitlement programs to deal with the national debt or wanting to leave abortion legislation up to the states. Pence, who has advocated for federal limits on abortion, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley disagreed over how to handle the issue at the last debate. “And one of the president’s populist protégés actually advocated a 59% inheritance tax in his book, ‘Nation of Victims,’ last year,” Pence said, referring to Vivek Ramaswamy - a recent target of his ire at the August GOP debate and on the campaign trail. ![]() “The governor of Florida still justifies using the power of the state to punish a corporation for taking a political stand that he disagreed with,” Pence said, referring to Ron DeSantis and his dispute with Disney.
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