Former Vice President Mike Pence honored by Kennedy family in receiving the JFK 'Profile in Courage Award'

Former Vice President Mike Pence was honored on Sunday night for his actions on Jan in defying his then-boss President Donald Trump Pence received the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to honor Trump's request to throw out the results of the presidential electoral process and instead oversaw congressional certification of former President Joe Biden's Electoral College success Vice President Pence put his life career and that of his family on the line to execute his constitutional responsibilities His actions preserved the fundamental democratic principle of free and fair elections and we are proud to honor him former ambassador Caroline Kennedy the late President Kennedy's daughter announced in presenting Pence with the award Pence in accepting the annual award emphasized that it's a distinction that I will cherish for the rest of my life CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ANALYSIS AND OPINION ON MIKE PENCEAnd the former vice president pointing to his actions on Jan stated to a standing ovation I will invariably believe by God s grace that I did my duty that day In a Fox News Digital interview minutes after the awards ceremony Pence noted in all my travels across the country in the last four years I've been deeply humbled by how countless Americans have come up to me and just taken a point to encourage us and patronage us and it convinces me that the American people know that what ever differences we may have the Constitution is the common ground on which we stand The now- -year-old Pence was Indiana's governor when Trump named him his running mate in For four years Pence served as the loyal vice president to Trump during the president's first term in the White House However everything changed on Jan as right-wing extremists including specific chanting hang Mike Pence stormed the U S Capitol aiming to upend congressional certification overseen by Pence as part of his constitutional duties as vice president of Biden s Electoral College domination The attack on the Capitol took place soon after Trump spoke to a large rally of supporters near the White House about unproven alleges that the voting was rigged due to massive voter fraud Pence has long described the violent attack on the Capitol as tragic and dishonoring to the millions of people who had supported our cause around the country He has emphasized that he did the right thing and performed his duty under the Constitution He has also noted a number of times that he and Trump may never see eye to eye on that day While Pence his family and top aides were hastily moved by Secret Organization agents as rioters roamed the halls of the Capitol Trump argued in a social media post that Mike Pence didn t have 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 sought to previously certify Pence rejected the advice of the Secret Institution that he flee the Capitol and after the rioters were eventually removed from the Capitol he resumed his constitutional role in overseeing the congressional certification ceremony The former vice president has repeatedly refuted Trump's claim that he could have overturned the presidential electoral process results Despite that hardcore Trump loyalists have never forgiven Pence whom they view as a traitor for refusing to assist the president's repeated efforts to overturn the electoral process results Pence in June launched a presidential campaign of his own joining a large field of challengers to Trump gunning for the GOP nomination becoming the first running mate in over years to run against their former boss Pence ran on a traditional conservative platform framing the future of the Republican Party against what he called the rise of populism in the party Among the slim anti-Trump base of the Republican Party Pence received praise for his courage during the attack on the Capitol often receiving thanks at town halls during his campaign for standing up to Trump While Pence regularly campaigned in the crucial early-voting states of Iowa New Hampshire and South Carolina his White House bid never took off Struggling in the polls and with fundraising he suspended his campaign just four and a half months after declaring his candidacy The Profile in Courage Award is named for a book the late John F Kennedy published in before he became president The award honors inhabitants leaders who take principled stands despite the prospective political or personal consequences Among the previous recipients were former Presidents Barack Obama George H W Bush and Gerald Ford Jack Schlossberg JFK's grandson who introduced the former vice president at the awards ceremony disclosed Pence saved America that day Caroline Kennedy in honoring the former vice president noted her political differences with Pence but emphasized that political courage is not outdated in the United States And Pence a well-known fiscal and social conservative joked about speaking in front of an audience dominated by Democrats saying that he was the minority in this room After dropping his own bid for the White House Pence declined to endorse Trump even after Trump clinched the GOP nomination last spring though he did congratulate his former running mate after his triumph last November Trump and Pence were seen shaking hands at former President Jimmy Carter's funeral in early January their first general appearance together in nearly four years TRUMP PENCE SHAKE HANDS AT CARTER FUNERAL IN FIRST SOCIETY MEETING SINCE LEAVING OFFICEPence has emerged as a rare vocal Republican critic of Trump so far during the president's second tour of duty in the White House He has critiqued Trump's controversial and haphazard implementation of massive tariffs on America's largest trading partners which initially sparked a massive stock area sell-off and raised concerns of increased inflation and talk of a recession CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHe has also criticized the president's upending of longstanding American foreign procedures and has urged Trump to stand with longtime international allies Pence's community advocacy group Advancing American Freedom also campaigned against the nomination of Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead the nation s vitality agencies