SPECIAL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS, A CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATE AND NOW FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE. GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME TO OUR CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATES SERIES. I’M ADAM SEXTON. OUR GUEST THIS EVENING IS THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, REPUBLICAN MIKE PENCE. TONIGHT, WE’LL BE GETTING TO KNOW HIM AND WHERE HE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES AT THE START OF OUR SHOW. I’LL BE ASKING SOME QUESTIONS. AND THEN AFTER A BREAK, WE’LL HAVE OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE ASK THEIR QUESTIONS IN A TOWN HALL FORMAT. BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH THAT, LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT MR. PENCE’S BIOGRAPHY. MIKE PENCE WAS THE 48TH VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO SERVING IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. HE WAS THE 50TH GOVERNOR OF HIS HOME STATE OF INDIANA, WHERE HE ENACTED THE LARGEST TAX CUT IN ITS HISTORY. CUT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN HALF AND CREATED THE FIRST STATE FUNDED PRE-K PLAN BEFORE HIS EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE, PENCE SERVED SIX TERMS IN CONGRESS, REPRESENTING EAST CENTRAL INDIANA. HE HAS ALSO HOSTED A TALK RADIO SHOW, PRACTICED LAW, AND WROTE THE BEST SELLING AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SO HELP ME GOD. THE FORMER VICE PRESIDENT SAYS AMERICANS ARE YEARNING FOR LEADERSHIP THAT CAN UNITE THE COUNTRY AROUND OUR HIGHEST IDEALS. PENCE GRADUATED FROM HANOVER COLLEGE AND EARNED HIS LAW DEGREE FROM INDIANA UNIVERSITY, WHERE HE MET HIS WIFE, KAREN. TOGETHER, THEY HAVE THREE CHILDREN. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, MR. VICE PRESIDENT. GOOD TO BE WITH YOU, ADAM. GOOD TO BE BACK IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. SO THE LATEST FROM THE SOUTHERN BORDER IS THAT THIS ANTICIPATED SURGE OF MIGRANTS IN THE POST TITLE 42 WORLD IS NOT AS BIG AS ANTICIPATED. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE CRISIS IS GOING AWAY. EVEN THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS SAID, QUOTE, THE CONDITIONS THAT ARE CAUSING HEMISPHERIC MIGRATION AT UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS HAVE NOT CHANGED. IS INVESTING AMERICAN RESOURCES IN THESE DESTABILIZING CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES GOING TO WORK? CAN WE GET A GOOD RETURN ON INVESTMENT IF WE TRY TO STABILIZE THOSE COUNTRIES TO STEM THE TIDE OF HUMANITY COMING OUR WAY? ADAM RONALD REAGAN SAID IT WELL. A NATION WITHOUT BORDERS IS NOT A NATION. EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH BORDER SECURITY AND OUR ADMINISTRATION PROVED THAT NOT ONLY DID WE BUILD HUNDREDS OF MILES OF WALL, BUT I ACTUALLY NEGOTIATED WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE REMAIN IN MEXICO AGREEMENT THAT REQUIRED PEOPLE TO TO STAY IN MEXICO WHILE THEY APPLIED FOR ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES. WE REDUCED ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM ABUSE BY 90%. THAT COMBINED WITH TITLE 42, WHICH WENT AWAY LAST WEEK AT THE DIRECTIVE OF THIS ADMINISTRATION, IS REALLY CREATING AN AVALANCHE OF HUMANITY INTO OUR COUNTRY. ALSO, AN AVALANCHE OF FENTANYL THAT’S BESETTING COMMUNITIES LARGE AND SMALL HERE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ALL ACROSS AMERICA. AND WHILE CERTAINLY LOOK SUPPORT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, FOR FOR ECONOMIC REFORMS AND AND AND AND AND JUDICIAL REFORMS IN CENTRAL AMERICA, SOMETHING AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY INVESTED IN. AND WILL CONTINUE TO THE REAL ANSWER IS TO GET BACK TO DOING WHAT WE WERE DOING BEFORE THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN AND HIS ADMINISTRATION DISMANTLED, AND IT WAS IN ADVANCE OF THEIR OPEN BORDERS POLICY. THAT’S THAT’S SEEN LITERALLY 5 MILLION PEOPLE COME INTO THIS COUNTRY. AND WHILE THEY’RE SAYING THE NUMBERS ARE LOW, LOOK, A THOUSAND PEOPLE A DAY DURING OUR ADMINISTRATION WAS DESCRIBED AS A CRISIS AT THE BORDER. WE’RE STILL SEEING 4000 PEOPLE A DAY. AND AND I ANTICIPATE THIS IS JUST THE VERY BEGINNING OF OF A WHOLE NEW WAVE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND PEOPLE COMING INTO OUR COUNTRY WITH CATCH AND RELEASE BEING RESTORED AGAIN. AND WE JUST GOT TO GET BACK TO WHAT WAS WORKING DURING THE TRUMP PENCE YEARS. BORDER SECURITY, OBVIOUSLY HUGELY IMPORTANT. BUT IF THE COUNTRY RELIES TOO HEAVILY ON THE WALL AND A BORDER AND DOESN’T GET OUT AND ABOUT AND BE AGGRESSIVE AND MUSCULAR IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA WITH DIPLOMACY, WITH THAT SOFT POWER, DO YOU WORRY THAT CHINA WILL FILL THE VOID AND BUILD THOSE ALLIANCES THAT COULD ALIENATE US IN OUR OWN BACKYARD? I WORRY A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE ROLE OF CHINA IN THE WORLD AND INCLUDING IN OUR HEMISPHERE. I MEAN, WHEN I WAS WHEN I WAS VICE PRESIDENT, I WAS SENT TO A CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA HALF A DOZEN TIMES TO REAFFIRM OUR BELIEF THAT THIS IS A HEMISPHERE OF FREEDOM AND YOU GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE MONROE DOCTRINE. THE UNITED STATES HAS ALWAYS MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD THAT THAT THAT WE ARE WE ARE GOING TO DEMAND THE REST OF THE WORLD STAYS OUT. AND YOU SEE THE WAY CHINA’S INVESTED, INVESTED IN THE PANAMA CANAL. YOU SEE CHINESE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT. YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS WE GOT TO STAY ENGAGED IN SOUTH AND IN CENTRAL AMERICA. AND WE WILL. THAT’S THAT’S PART AND PARCEL OF OUR POLICY. BUT THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR BORDER SECURITY. WE PROVED THAT WE PROVED YOU CAN SECURE THE BORDER. THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS DISMANTLED EVERYTHING THAT WAS WORKING AT OUR BORDER AND AND THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION SIMPLY HAS TO PUT BACK INTO PLACE THE POLICIES THAT WE ADVANCED. AND AND SET THE STAGE FOR SECURING THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE UNITED STATES, AGAIN, ON THE SUBJECT OF CHINA, DIRECTOR OF THE FBI AND ALSO A FORMER HEAD OF THE CDC, HAVE SAID IT IS BELIEVED NOW THAT THE COVID 19 VIRUS CAME FROM A LAB LEAK IN WUHAN. SHOULD THE NEXT PRESIDENT PURSUING REPARATIONS FOR ALL OF THE DAMAGE THAT WAS DONE TO THE UNITED STATES? WELL, I THINK THE NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD BE PURSUING ANSWERS FIRST. YOU KNOW, I LED THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE. AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT I ALWAYS BELIEVED IT CAME FROM CHINA. I MEAN, THAT I WAS FRANKLY, I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHILE IN THOSE EARLY TASK FORCE BRIEFINGS, WHILE SEVERAL MEMBERS OF THE TASK FORCE, SEVERAL OF THE SCIENTISTS ON THE TASK FORCE, TOLD US REPEATEDLY THAT IT CAME FROM A LAB, DR. FAUCI AND OTHERS SIMPLY INSISTED THAT IT DID NOT. AND I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THAT WAS THE CASE. BUT WE SIMPLY NEED TO DEMAND THAT THAT CHINA COME CLEAN ON ON WHERE THIS VIRUS CAME FROM OR AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE JUST NEED TO CONTINUE TO STAND STRONG WITH CHINA. ADAM. I MEAN, WE OUGHT TO BE PUTTING ADDITIONAL ECONOMIC PRESSURE AND TARIFFS ON CHINA UNTIL THEY OPEN UP THEIR MARKETS AND RESPECT THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND STOP THE MILITARY AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE ASIA PACIFIC AND AND, AND GIVE US THE ANSWERS ON COVID 19. LAST QUESTION FOR YOU HERE BEFORE WE HEAD TO THE TOWN HALL. YOU OCCUPY A UNIQUE PLACE IN AMERICAN HISTORY AS A VICE PRESIDENT WHO DID HIS CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY ON JANUARY 6TH, 2021. BUT THEN HAD A MOB COMING AFTER YOU, STORMING THE CONGRESS AND STATING EXPLICITLY THAT THEY WANTED TO KILL YOU. IT’S ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC THINGS THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO ONE OF THE TOP LEADERS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. BUT PUBLICLY, YOU’VE BEEN SO CALM ABOUT IT, ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. WILL VOTERS EVER GET TO SEE ANGER FROM MIKE PENCE, A RIGHTEOUS MORAL INDIGNATION TO WHICH MANY BELIEVE YOU’RE ENTITLED OVER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THAT DAY? WELL, LOOK, RIGHT. I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO ANNOUNCE TODAY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON OUR PLANS. BUT LOOK, I EXPECT THE DEBATE OVER THAT DAY WILL BE VERY PUBLIC IN THE DAYS AHEAD. I’VE SPOKEN ABOUT IT. I’VE WRITTEN ABOUT IT VERY OPENLY AND AND MADE IT CLEAR. I WAS ANGRY. I WAS ANGRY AT THE RIOTING THAT I SAW AT THE CITADEL OF OUR DEMOCRACY. AND AND I WAS ANGRY AT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S RECKLESS WORDS THAT DAY THAT I BELIEVE ENDANGERED MY FAMILY AND EVERYONE AT THE CAPITOL. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT, YOU KNOW, YOUR SENSE OF THE CALM THAT I REFER TO IS IT’S EVIDENCE OF GOD’S GRACE THAT DAY FOR ME. BECAUSE AS ANGRY AS I WAS, I SIMPLY DIDN’T HAVE TIME FOR IT. ADAM GREEN WAS DETERMINED TO STAY AT MY POST, DO MY DUTY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION, AND PLAY A PART IN QUELLING THE VIOLENCE AND FINISHING OUR WORK IN THE PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER. AND THAT’S HOW I REMEMBER THAT. IT WAS A DAY OF TRAGEDY. BUT ULTIMATELY IT BECAME A TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM, WHICH IS NOT TO SAY I WASN’T DISAPPOINTED IN THE ELECTION. ADAM, YOU REMEMBER I WAS ON THE BALLOT. BUT THIS PRINCIPLE THAT STATES GOVERN IN ELECTIONS NEW HAMPSHIRE CERTIFIES ELECTIONS, AND THE ONLY ROLE OF THE CONGRESS IS TO OPEN AND COUNT THOSE VOTES. WE SAW THROUGH THAT. WE DID IT. BUT I WELCOME THAT DEBATE BECAUSE I’LL ALWAYS BELIEVE IN MY HEART OF HEARTS THAT WE DID OUR DUTY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES ON THAT DAY. ALL RIGHT, MR. VICE PRESIDENT, IT’S TIME TO GET TO THOSE TOWN HALL VOTERS. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HERE. COMING UP AFTER THE BREAK, WE WILL BRING OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE INTO THIS CONVERSATION. STAY WIT