Ex-Vice President Mike Pence is slated to give a speech at a conservative Christian lobbying group in South Carolina next month, marking his first public appearance since leaving the White House.
Pence will give a keynote address at a dinner held by the Palmetto Family Council on April 29, according to Dave Wilson, the president of the organization.
His upcoming speech in South Carolina, one of the most important states in the Republican nomination race, signals a move toward a potential 2024 bid as ex-President Donald Trump remains mum over whether he plans to run for office again.
Wilson told the Associated Press that the former vice president “is very reflective of the ideas, policies and direction that we at Palmetto Family want to see in South Carolina: bringing faith to the forefront and growing the next generation of conservative leaders for our state.”
The Palmetto Family Council aims to dismantle abortion and same-sex marriage rights. It also pushes for schools to “allow critique of evolution” in biology classes.
Pence will discuss both the Trump administration’s accomplishments and the religious conservative agenda at the event, one of the former vice president’s aides told the AP.
Pence has kept a low profile since leaving the White House. Various reports have indicated that he and Trump are still on good terms, even after Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol, where supporters shouted “Hang Mike Pence.”
Last week, Pence wrote an op-ed that attempted to push Trump’s falsehoods about election fraud, despite the fact that the former president had weaponized those falsehoods to encourage his supporters to go after Pence in the Capitol insurrection last month.
