Fact Check: Did Pence Say the Decline of American Cities Is ‘Not My Concern’?

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson grilled 2024 Republican presidential candidates which sparked several viral video clips.

One clip that went viral from the event features former Vice President Mike Pence discussing the war in Ukraine.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Vice President. You are distressed that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks,” Carlson insisted.

He went on, “Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past three years. Drive around. There’s not one city that’s gotten better in the United States. And it’s visible. Our economy has degraded, the suicide rate has jumped, public filth, and disorder and crime have exponentially increased.”

Carlson claimed, “And yet your concern is that the Ukrainians, a country most people can’t find on a map who’ve received 10s of billions of U.S. tax dollars, don’t have enough tanks? I think it’s a fair question to ask: Where’s the concern for the United States in that?”

Pence responded, “I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern.”

The audience cheered in response, so they seemed to understand his comment.

But on social media, dishonest brokers were taking the clip out of context to make it appear Pence was saying American domestic issues were not his concern.

If you only saw those tweets, you would probably assume the former vice president is some kind of ridiculous anti-American, Ukrainian-loving, warmonger.

But the rest of his comment would show just how dishonest these individuals are:

“I’m running for President of the United States because I think this country’s in a lot of trouble. I think Joe Biden has weakened America at home and abroad. And as President of the United States, we’re going to restore law and order in our cities, we’re going to secure our border, we’re going to get this economy moving again, and we’re going to make sure that we have men and women on our courts at every level that will stand for the right to life and defend all the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution.”

He added, “Anybody that says that we can’t be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on earth. We can do both.”

In the full context, it becomes clear Pence was saying what Carlson said is his concern is not really his concern. It was poor phrasing, but he was refuting a claim and then went on to speak about addressing America’s woes.

Many of these people sharing these misleading tweets are probably upset Pence did not violate the Constitution and arrogate the power to keep former President Donald Trump in office by overturning the election results on Jan. 6, 2021 — which is a crazy issue to get upset about.

But they are also the same kinds of people who will wail about “fake news” about Trump and the “fake news media.” And yet they are spreading false information to tarnish someone who did the right thing and stood up for the rule of law and the Constitution when it counted.

If you are mad at Pence fine. But at least show some decency and character and use actual issues to attack him, not one phrase deceptively taken out of context.