It seems that Karen Pence still holds a grudge against Donald Trump for leaving her husband to the January 6 mob.
Politicians past and present gathered in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. President-elect Trump and his wife, Melania, walked past his former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, who were sitting alongside another former vice president, Al Gore.
Gore and Pence both stood up to greet Trump and Melania, shaking their hands and saying a few words. But Karen Pence stayed seated, staring ahead icily instead of greeting the couple.
Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/VJB14nzOhR
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 9, 2025
It’s highly likely the snub was intentional, especially as Karen was seen later greeting former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura.
Trump shunned Pence in 2020 after the vice president refused to stop the certification of the election results. “You can either go down in history as a patriot, or you can go down in history as a pussy,” Trump told Pence during the certification process, according to The New York Times. Pence chose to defy his president.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,” Trump tweeted during the January 6 riots shortly before shouts of “Hang Mike Pence” began ringing out from the crowd. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson later testified that Trump expressed support for the chants that day.
It’s likely that this was Trump and Pence’s first public encounter since January 6, 2021. For Karen Pence, those wounds still seem to be fresh.
