WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence called for unified conservative action in remarks delivered Tuesday outlining his “Freedom Agenda.”
“More than ever, we need to lead America with a freedom agenda focused on the future,” Pence told young conservatives at the Young America’s Foundation conference in downtown Washington, D.C. “God must have had different plans for today. For he must have decided that a talk about the future … should be given to the rising generation.”
The former vice president’s speech, originally scheduled for Monday evening at The Heritage Foundation, comes hours before Donald Trump will speak at the America First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda Summit on Tuesday afternoon.
“Some people may choose to focus on the past,” Pence said. “But elections are about the future. And I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America.”
“We can’t afford to take our eyes off the road in front of us,” he added.
In a brief question and answer section after the speech, Pence addressed a student’s query about his relationship with Trump.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the record of the Trump/Pence administration,” he responded. “And for four years, we advanced the policies that I just described, without apology.”
“I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to serve as vice president,” he continued. “I don’t know that our movement is that divided. I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues. But we may differ on focus.”
“I truly do believe that elections are about the future, and it’s absolutely essential at a time when so many Americans are hurting, so many families are struggling, that we don’t give way to the temptation to look back. I think the time has come for us to offer a bold, positive agenda to bring America back. And I’ll continue to carry that message all across this nation.”
During his remarks, the former vice president praised the overturn of Roe v. Wade and pushed for Americans to help mothers and babies in need across the nation. He called for an end to the radical, woke ideology in schools and in the military, and he emphasized the importance of the United States showing strength toward world leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pence repeatedly pointed Americans toward the future, noting that “we’ve all been through a lot over the last few years” and referring to the COVID pandemic and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot before adding, “I want to assure all of you, I remain incredibly optimistic.”
“I came today not to look backwards but to look forward,” Pence said. “The truth of the matter is, now more than ever, conservatives need to be focused on the challenges Americans are facing today and offer bold and positive agenda solutions for the future.”
“The conservative movement has always been built on the notion that ideas have consequences,” he continued. “Conservatism is bigger than any one moment, any one election, or any one person. It’s always been about ideas.”