Mike Pence booed, called traitor at conservative Christian conference

Former Vice President Mike Pence was met with boos and shouts of “traitor” on Friday as he spoke at a conservative conference about Republicans reclaiming the majority in Washington, D.C.

“I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order,” Pence said as the crowd cheered him on at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Orlando.

But during Pence’s speech, attendees could be heard in video of the event yelling “traitor” and booing the former vice president, even as others continued to cheer.

Reporters at the event posted on Twitter that those who tried to interrupt Pence’s speech either were removed or left the event.

Video from the riots in Washington, D.C. shows Vice President Mike Pence evacuating with his family as insurrectionists were 100 feet away.

USA TODAY

Earlier this month, Pence said during a public appearance in New Hampshire that he and Trump had spoken several times since Jan. 6 but the two likely would never “see eye to eye on that day.”

Still, Pence has continued to praise the Trump Administration in public appearances.

Pence might have expected to find a friendly audience at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference. The political advocacy nonprofit says on its website that one of its missions is to “mobilize and train people of faith to be effective citizens” and to speak out “on behalf of Christian values.”

The former vice president has described himself as an evangelical Christian and has championed causes that appeal to the religious right, including opposition to abortion.

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to a crowd during an event sponsored by the Palmetto Family organization on April 29, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. The address was his first since the end of his vice presidency. (Photo: Sean Rayford, Getty Images)

Trump and Pence found durable support among white evangelical voters. Edison Research exit polls showed their ticket winning 76% of support among white evangelicals in the 2020 election, and the Associated Press VoteCast survey found about 81% of support among that group went for Trump.

Evangelical voters are a bedrock bloc within the GOP. A Quinnipiac University poll released in May found nearly three-quarters of Republican voters believe too much had been made of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and it was time to move on.

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