Mike Pence in 2024 CNN Town Hall
On Gun Control:
Armed guards at every public and private school in America
I think the time has come for us as a country to end the discussion about school security and if it takes federal legislation and federal funding,
we ought to fund and arm and train security guard at every public and private school in America. And we ought to do it now.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Abortion:
Won't rest until sanctity of life is center of American law
I couldn't be more proud to have been vice president in an administration that appointed three of the justices that sent Roe versus Wade to the ash heap of history where it belongs and gave America a new beginning for life. Many states I'm proud to say
have advanced pro-life legislation, but we have a long way to go to win the hearts and minds of the American people.We will not rest or relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the country.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Budget & Economy:
Freeze nondefense discretionary spending across the board
We need to get federal spending under control. I think we ought to impose a freeze on all nondefense discretionary spending across the board. And we ought to turn off all that unnecessary COVID spending in its entirety.
Secondly, I think we got to get the Federal Reserve back to doing its job, which is protecting the currency. Let them protect the dollar, and let's hold our political leaders to account for keeping Americans working.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Crime:
We need to get serious and tough on violent crime
I have to believe that the criminal element in this country has been emboldened by the radical left's defund the police movement, and, in a very real sense, has helped foment some of the crime that we see today. I, frankly, think we need to take a step
back from the approach of the FIRST STEP Act. We need to get serious and tough on violent crime. And we need to give our cities and our states the resources to restore law and order to our streets.
I think if you engage in a mass shooting that claims lives, you should face execution not in years, but in months. We ought to have expedited due process that ensures that anyone that engages in a mass shooting in this country knows that they
will meet their fate within a year and a half. I think that's closer to justice than anything that we have today.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Crime:
No interest nor intention of pardoning January 6 lawbreakers
We cannot ever allow what happened on January 6 to happen again in the heart of our democracy. And I will stand by the decisions and the due process of court and our laws.
And I have no interest or no intention of pardoning those that assaulted police officers or vandalized our Capitol. They need to be answerable to the law.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Education:
Public schools can compete with our private schools
For a very long time, I have believed that parents ought to be able to choose where their children go to school, public, private, parochial or homeschool. I actually think by letting parents choose where their kids go to school, all the schools are
going to get better. I have confidence that our public schools can compete with our private schools, and they will be more responsive to the goals and the values of the people of their community when they have to compete for those students.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Energy & Oil:
Climate changing, but don't put undue burden on Americans
Clearly, the climate is changing, not as dramatically as the radical environmentalists like to present, but there's change. Over the next century, there'll be modest changes in temperatures. What we have to do in dealing with this, I think, is bring
American innovation to it. We've got to make sure that whatever we do with regard to being stewards of the land, and air, and water, cannot be done in a way that puts an undue burden on American families or American businesses.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Foreign Policy:
We need to provide Ukraine with resources to repel Russia
I know that some in this debate have called the war in Ukraine a territorial dispute. It's not. It was a Russian invasion, an unprovoked Russian invasion. And I believe the United States of America needs to continue to provide the courageous soldiers in
Ukraine with the resources they need to repel that Russian invasion and restore their territorial integrity. We're the leader of the free world. We're the arsenal of democracy.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Health Care:
Minors with gender issues should wait until adulthood
It's proper for state governments and state officials to simply say, however adults want to live, they can live. But for children, we're going to protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical gender transition
before you're 18. I would tell them that I love everybody. I put my arm around them and their parents. But before they had a chemical or surgical procedure, I would say wait, just wait.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Homeland Security:
We need a president to build a military fitted to the times
The Chinese Communists only understand one thing, and that's strength. The truth is, the Biden administration has been busy cutting military spending. And one of my concerns about the recent debt ceiling deal was that once you factor in inflation, it
actually represents a cut in military spending over the next year. Now, more than ever, we need a president who will marshal the support of the Congress and of the American people to build a military fitted to the times.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Immigration:
Allow people to work here for a short period of time
I truly do believe that we can fix a broken immigration system. We can build an immigration system that's built on the principles of merit and the needs of the American people. But we also can create a system where people
that want to come and work whether it be in agriculture, where in other trades can come and for a short period of time pay taxes, participate in our economy and go home.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Social Security:
Reform could include investing taxes in a mutual fund
Every time the American people have been given commonsense and compassionate reforms -- it could be a change in the age of eligibility, but it also could include letting younger Americans invest a portion of their payroll taxes in a mutual fund, like
the TSP program that 10 million federal employees are in today. We could literally give them a higher return on investment in exchange for changing the benefit structure that they would receive under Social Security.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Technology:
TikTok should be banned from this country, period
Look, a lot of young people like it, but what you got to understand, kids, look, they're collecting your personal information and everything TikTok gets, the Chinese communist government has access to. I think TikTok is incompatible with both the
privacy and the security of the United States of America. And it shouldn't just be banned from our government institutions. It should be banned from this country, period. Full stop.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
On Principles & Values:
I will always stand on the Constitution of the United States
I truly do believe that it's important to remember that those of us that would take the oath of office to serve as president of the United States really make one promise above all others, and that is to support and defend the Constitution of the
United States. And I pledge to the people of Iowa and the people of America that, if you give me that great privilege, I will always stand on the Constitution of the United States of America, whatever it means to me.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
Jun 7, 2023
Page last updated: Oct 27, 2024