(TStarnes) – Former Vice President Mike Pence turned on former President Trump after the latest indictment by Special Counsel Jack Smith Tuesday.

Pence, who is polling around four percent compared to Trump’s 53 percent, said the indictment –on four federal charges out of the probe, including conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights — is an important reminder.

“Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence said in a statement.

“The former president is entitled to the presumption of innocence but with this indictment, his candidacy means more talk about January 6th and more distractions. As Americans, his candidacy means less attention paid to Joe Biden’s disastrous economic policies afflicting millions across the United States and to the pattern of corruption with Hunter,” he said.

Pence declared the country was “more important than one man,” and that the Constitution was “more important than any one man’s career.”

“On January 6th, former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will,” he said.

“As your president, I will not yield an inch in defending America, our people, or our values, and I promise you: I will do so in a way consistent with my oath to the Constitution and the character and decency of the American people. We will restore a threshold of integrity and civility in public life so we can bring real solutions to the challenges plaguing our nation,” he added.

Pence was slammed online by conservatives.

“Pence is a coward,” Dr. Sebastian Gorka wrote on X along with a video where Pence told supporters on Jan. 4, 2021, “I know we all got our doubts about the last elections. And I want to assure you, I share the concerns of millions of American about voting irregularities. I promise you come this Wednesday, we’ll have our day in Congress. We’ll hear the objections. We’ll hear the evidence.”

“Apparently Tucker ending his career wasn’t enough for him, so he decided to bury himself,” Jenna Ellis wrote.

Lance Wallnau said Pence “buried his political future.”

“I was at a meeting with Mike Pence after Jan 6 when he failed to push for an extension of a week to allow electors to sort out claims of fraud,” Wallnau wrote .”He claimed that consultants (Karl Rove) said there wasn’t sufficient fraud. He’s a beltway politician. By turning on Trump in this time of need he betrays the movement and exposes his real character. He does so in order to get absolution from the establishment Republican Party for the sin of once supporting Trump.”

Others called Pence a “traitor,” “loser,” “fraud,” and a “pharisee.”

“Mike Pence isn’t running for President,” Eric Matheny said. “He’s auditioning for CNN.”

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