Mike Pence Returns Home to Indiana, Says Being Vice President ‘Greatest Honor of My Life’

Vice President Mike Pence walks to the West Wing of the White House after addressing staff on the steps of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in the White House complex, on Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (Gerald Herbert/AP Photo)

Former Vice President Mike Pence wished President Joe Biden and his administration well after returning to his home state of Indiana on Wednesday.

“It’s been the greatest honor of my life,” Pence said to a small group of supporters in Indiana.

“It is great to be home back home again. Thank you for coming out,” he added. “To be able to fly home to my hometown means more than I can tell you... Thank you for your support, thank you for your prayers. We felt them every day.”

Among supporters of President Donald Trump, Pence’s reputation took a hit in recent weeks as Pence presided over the joint session of Congress to certify President Joe Biden’s win on Jan. 6. A day before the joint session, Pence spokesman Marc Short said there was no constitutionally backed mandate for Pence to challenge the electoral vote, as Trump and his supporters had suggested.

Trump also pilloried Pence on Twitter for presiding over Congress during the certification, accusing him of not “[having] the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify ... USA demands the truth!”

Pence hasn’t publicly responded to Trump’s statement.

“I’ve known Mike Pence forever,” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) told Tulsa World. “I’ve never seen Pence as angry as he was today,” the longtime senator said, referring to the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 that interrupted Pence and Congress.

During his speech Wednesday, the former vice president touted a number of Trump’s initiatives.

That included installing “a record number of principled men and women to our federal courts at every level, including three Supreme Court justices, including Indiana’s own Justice Amy Coney Barrett,” he said.

“Let me also take a moment to say thank you to President Donald Trump and Melania for all they have done to make America great again,” he said. “We'll always be grateful for the opportunity they gave us to serve.”

The former vice president also thanked his staff members and family, while he congratulated the incoming administration. On Wednesday, Pence was seen at Biden’s inauguration and listened to his speech.

Trump didn’t attend the event and instead opted to deliver a speech to supporters before returning to his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

“While we’ve just come back to Indiana today, I’ve already promised Karen we'll be moving back to Indiana come this summer,” Pence said to supporters on Wednesday. “There’s no place like home.”