NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence pored over Republican talking points about Elon Musk and Disney on Wednesday as he walked a familiar thin line against his former boss, delivering a message seemingly aimed at conservatives who will decide whether he becomes a viable presidential candidate in 2024.
Appears in The Times DealBook top in New York, Mr. Pence was repeatedly pressured Andrew Ross Sorkin, the founder of DealBook, to talk about the January 6, 2021 Capitol bombing and the character of former President Donald J. Trump. He objected.
Even as he reiterated his belief that Mr. Trump is not an anti-Semite, he condemned again Mr. Trump for hosting Nick Fuentes, an outspoken anti-Semite and racist, at a recent dinner.
“President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, a Holocaust denier, a seat at the table,” Pence said.
He defended the role he had played on January 6, when Trump supporters called for his hanging after he refused to elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to undo for president.
And he said he had never seen “evidence of widespread fraud that would change the outcome” of the 2020 presidential election.
When asked if Mr. Trump is a complaint by the Department of Justicehe frowned at the screenplay.
“I’m not sure that taking bad advice from lawyers is a criminal offense,” he said. “We see too many cases in third world countries where the incoming government is persecuting a previous government. That is not an image I want to resonate for the United States.”
He also doubled down on comments he made earlier in the day during a Fox News appearance on Mr. Musk, saying he was confident in Mr. Musk’s review of Twitter and the content guidelines, which led the company under its previous owner to ban Mr. Trump after the January 6 attack.
Mr. Pence, who is weighing up a run for president, also took a swipe at Disney during his comments. He tried to correlate his stock losses and a recent management shakeup with those of the company criticism of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. The measure prohibits classroom teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in some primary school classes.
“I think the recent statements by Bob Iger taking back control of Disney prove that America is the antidote to shaking America up,” he said, referring to Mr. Iger’s return as CEO of Disney.
He also mentioned his new book, “So Help Me God,” no less than seven times – enough to make it a punchline.
“As you can see, if I haven’t said it already, I have a book,” joked Mr. Pence.
“We understand,” Mr. Sorkin said. “We are good.”
Mr. Pence underlined, as he had done many times before, that he was proud of the work of the Trump administration. But, he noted, “It clearly didn’t end well.”