Former Vice President Pence will receive the Profile in Courage Award for his actions on Jan. 6

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: ABC News/AP

May 4, 2025, 12:08 AM


BOSTON -- Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election. The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021,” the JFK Library Foundation said, when it made the announcement last month. Pence will receive the award at the JFK Library in Boston.

Trump pressured Pence to reject election results from swing states where the Republican president falsely claimed the vote was marred by fraud. Pence refused, saying he lacked such authority. When a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, some chanted that they wanted to “hang Mike Pence.” Pence was whisked away by Secret Service agents, narrowly avoiding a confrontation with the rioters.

“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 asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote at the time on X, formerly Twitter, as rioters moved through the Capitol and Pence was in hiding with his family, aides and security detail inside the building. Pence rejected the Secret Service’s advice that he leave the Capitol, staying to continue the ceremonial election certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory once rioters were cleared.

The Profile in Courage Award, named for a book Kennedy published in 1957 before he became president, honors public officials who take principled stands despite the potential political or personal consequences. Previous recipients of the award include former Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/former-vice-president-pence-receive-profile-courage-award-121441005

[lamp_shade]

1. How will trump react... I wonder.

[sop]

6. Trump will immediately revoke their tax exempt status.

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and a 509(a)(1) public charity.

[Vogon_Glory]

2. Father Pence did the right thing

By and large I’m not a fan of Mike Pence’s political views, but he did the right thing on January 6th, 2021.

His action still serves as a stark reminder of how the Republican Party has (further) fallen.

[PatSeg]

19. Yes and it still amazes me that

it is so rare these days to find a republican in DC who will do anything similar.

[FirstLight]

20. Seriously! I came here to say this...

I wish some news peopple would ask the R's on the Meet the Press etc shows about this and ask them why they are bending over so eagerly to be remembered in History as simple flunkies of the Grifter in Chief.

Pence's actions seem goddamn heroic comparitively.

[PatSeg]

21. I agree, journalists have to start holding them accountable

preferably in a face-to-face interview. I wonder if a lot of them are intentionally avoiding journalists' questions except for maybe Fox News.

[Ocelot II]

4. Obnoxious non-tweet from Krasnov to follow...

I'm still not sure Pence should get an award for doing his job, but kudos to him for not caving under pressure - and I love it that he's getting a John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award from the JFK Library Foundation, and that Obama also got one.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

5. Pence is a POS,

but I will give credit where credit is due, he stood up to Been A Dick Donald that day and put his life on the line thereby denying Been A Dick Donald's illegal request, so on that note, he deserves that award.

He's still a POS though.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. I almost choked when I heard he was advised on this by Dan Quayle.

Then I realized the advice was actually good.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

9. If not for Dan Quayle,

I believe Pence would have caved to Been A Dick Donald, so he deserves credit also.

[rurallib]

10. When we heard this this morning my first response was 'Why

did he have to check with Quayle? Seems to me it was a pretty black and white decision."

But we do now have a whole MAGA party that can't tell right from wrong.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. The fact that he skipped over Darth Cheney

to go all the way back to Quayle, is interesting though...

[rurallib]

17. both are from Indiana and I think long time friends

But Quayle hardly does to mind when I think of level headed people.

Besides Pence had four years to make a stand but only did so when his back was against the wall. Hardly a profile in courage.

[BumRushDaShow]

27. Pence was a sycophant in words with his own personal agenda

but amazingly enough, was able to summon enough sense to not to be a party to a direct coup - at least back then (even with people setting up gallows outside of the Capitol yelling "Hang Mike Pence!" ).

When you see big cowardly media outlets, law firms and schools caving, this type of thing stands out.

[ribrepin]

33. What do you think Vance will do in the same situation?

I'll give Pence a kudos for his actions. Vance won't even check before he does exactly what Trump wants.

[twodogsbarking]

8. It can't be all bad if it pisses Trump off.

[orangecrush]

23. This

[Tennessee Hillbilly]

11. This will infuriate trump

trump knows that he is far too cowardly to ever get such an award for himself. He will try to get revenge on everybody involved.

[bmichaelh]

13. Not a partisan award

Trump will probably complain that this is a partisan act.

But if you look at the list of honorees, it does not look to be partisan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profile_in_Courage_Award

In 2001, they awarded Gerald Ford the award for his pardon of Nixon.

[Hugin]

14. While important, it's an empty gesture with the current state of the American media.

Trump will undoubtedly fart or rename some street somewhere absorbing all of the bandwidth for hours as the act is dissected for any possible meaning on either side of Pence receiving an honor for basically doing his job.

[Martin Eden]

15. Meh. He was covering his own ass, knowing he was being pressured into committing a crime

Where was the courage of this hymn singing hypocrite during the four years he heaped praise on this criminal rapist like North Korean generals bowing before Kim Jong Un?

[Butterflylady]

16. There are not enough of.....

Catsup bottles in the world 🌎.

[Joinfortmill]

18. He did stand up to Trump. And, don't forget,

he didn't really know how the Secret Service would react. So, yes, he took s courageous stand in a time of significant chaos and danger.

[Paladin]

22. Suits me.

I'm far from a big Pence fan---but if it makes trump look like shit, I'm for it...

[DFW]

24. I will give him this much: he KNEW his career was finished if he did the right thing, and he still did the right thing.

He had to make a decision, and he knew the consequences of each possibility. He said to himself, "I am being asked to cross a line, and it is a line I will not cross." That was a line that I think most of today's Republicans would willingly have crossed.

[lostnfound]

25. Courageous only in stark contrast to the rest of his craven life. So many more worthy choices.

he did do good that day, but for 4 years he carried out trump wishes.

[RockRaven]

26. Absurdly low bar, but apparently everyone is being graded relative to their peers.

[Dan]

28. WOW, a Profile in Courage...for doing his damn job, that he couldn't figure

A way not to do.

Yep, these GOP leaders are just the type of people I would want to be in a fox-hold with if things got tough.

[BaronChocula]

29. BREAKING NEWS

Conservative white guy gets courage award for upholding his oath

Really? There are so many other people who risk their lives to protect this country or defend the defenseless without cameras or Secret Service protection. Then again we reelected a conservative white guy rapist. Why not give another conservative white guy a break?

I oppose everything Trump does every goddamn day. Where’s my PIC award?

Fuck Mike Pence! He ain’t my hero. And of course, Fuck Trump!

[Blue Owl]

30. There's no doubt he was aware of the now-validated danger trump posed

[OverBurn]

31. Ok he did one good thing, he should have been actively campaigning against his former boss from being reelected.

The guy that tried to get him hung.