Source: The Washington Post / Getty
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Former Indiana governor Mike Pence was among the seven GOP candidates for president to debate for a second time in the last few months on Wednesday.
The debate took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and saw Pence go in hard to try and convince voters that he is the right person for the job to lead the country in the next presidential term.
“I’m the most experienced, most qualified, and most consistent conservative in this field,” he exclaimed at one point during the debate. “I’m ready to lead America home!”
The debate covered several topics, as you might expect, including healthcare, terrorism, energy, the economy, and transgender Americans.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said it’s not compassionate “to affirm a kid’s confusion” with transgender surgeries. Pence was in agreement saying he would oppose most transgender surgeries. Both said they would give parents more power in what is going on in terms of gender identity with their kids at school.
For Pence, he said that would include passing a ban on transgender surgeries and hormone therapy anywhere in the country.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the U.S. needs to tackle “big pharma.” Pence said he’ll tackle Obamacare by giving more power to the states.
“My former running mate, Donald Trump, has a plan to consolidate power in Washington,” Pence said. “If I’m president of the United States it’s my intention to make the federal government smaller by returning to the states those resources and programs that are rightfully theirs. That means all Obamacare funding.”
Pence added that would also include shutting down the federal Department of Education.
Finally, he touted plans to open up America’s energy sector.
“If I’m president of the United States we are going to open up federal lands,” he said. “We are going to unleash American energy. We are going to have an all of the above energy strategy.”
The latest Economist/You Gov poll posted by RealClearPolitics has former President Trump, who was not at the debate, with a healthy lead over the other candidates for the GOP nomination. He holds a 42-point lead over Ron DeSantis. Pence is polling fifth.
