Mike Pence Gets Heckled at Faith & Freedom Coalition Summit With Boos and Cries of ‘Traitor!’
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Former Vice President Mike Pence owes a great deal of his political career to support from evangelical conservatives, and Friday’s Faith & Freedom Coalition Summit has been home turf for him for years. But the Republican base is still very devoted to former President Donald Trump, and Pence’s apostasy on Jan. 6 — refusing to oppose the Electoral College votes that certified President Joe Biden’s victory — is a sin for which there seems to be little forgiveness.
Forbes political reporter Andrew Solender captured a short video of Pence delivering his remarks to the conference, being held in Kissimmee, Fl. (just south of Orlando). Audible boos and chants of “traitor!” can be heard.
Pence gets drowned out by hecklers at the Faith & Freedom Coalition summit, some of whom appear to be chanting “traitor!” pic.twitter.com/pAQxavsK3O
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) June 18, 2021
Pence did his best to ignore the hecklers and speak over them. Several of the hecklers was removed by security, according to NBC News’ Ali Vitali and Dave Weigel with the Washington Post.
Pence greeted here at Faith & Freedom with cheers as he got on stage, but as he started to speak a woman shouted “traitor” before being escorted out. He spoke over it, ignoring the outburst.
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) June 18, 2021
A few cries of “traitor!” when Mike Pence starts talking at Faith & Freedom Coalition summit; the people shouting it are being led out or leaving, one guy in Bikers for Trump swap filming himself.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 18, 2021
Eventually, the raucous crowd calmed down somewhat, and Pence got applause when he declared himself to be “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” a longtime motto of his.
Watch the video above, via Twitter.
This article has been updated with additional information.
