Former Vice President Mike Pence, one of many in a field of hopefuls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has sought ways to break out from the pack after announcing his bid in June.

This week, as former President Donald Trump was indicted on four felony charges related to efforts to overturn the election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, Pence found his moment — courtesy of an accidental endorsement from his old boss.

What You Need To Know

  • Former Vice President Mike Pence is making the most of an accidental endorsement from his old boss, former President Donald Trump, with a fundrasing boost and new campaign merchandise

  • The former president's most recent federal criminal indictment noted that Trump called Pence "too honest" for refusing to participate in an alleged scheme to disqualify legitimate electoral votes

  • Pence's campaign announced that it received 7,400 new donations in the days immediately following the indictment

  • The campaign has since added a shirt and hat that read "Too Honest" to Pence's merch store

“You’re too honest,” Trump told Pence on Jan. 1, 2021, after the then-vice president declined to participate in an alleged scheme to reject legitimate electoral votes, according to the indictment. Five days later, Pence would become the target of threats on his life, as thousands of Trump supporters broke into the United States Capitol, vandalizing its offices and disrupting Congress’s duty to count electoral votes confirming Joe Biden’s presidency.

On Thursday, the Pence campaign updated its merch offerings to take advantage of his recently-raised profile. The vice president’s online store now include a hat and a shirt, both bearing a two-word phrase: “Too Honest.”

Pence’s campaign told The Hill Thursday that it has received more than 7,400 donations since Trump’s latest indictment was made public.

The fundraising boost is undoubtedly a big boon for the campaign, which has struggled to bolster donations in order for the former vice president to qualify for the first GOP presidential debate. According to FEC filings, Pence's campaign ended its most recent reporting period having collected $1.16 million in donations — good for tenth place among leading Republican fundraisers, well behind Trump, who leads fundraising with $35.98 million in receipts. 

The day the indictment was handed down, Pence responded firmly. “Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence wrote in a thread that climaxed with an even more direct repudiation of Trump.

“Our country is more important than one man. Our constitution is more important than any one man’s career,” Pence wrote. “On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will.”

Pence doubled down on his comments during a campaign stop on Wednesday, telling reporters that "President Trump asked me to put him over the Constitution, but I chose the Constitution, and I always will."

“I really do believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence told reporters in Indiana. “And anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the Constitution should never be President of the United States again. I’ve been very forthright about this issue and I’ll continue to be.”

Pence went on to say that Trump’s actions are “contrary” to the Constitution and the country’s laws, but “crackpot lawyers” told the former president what he wanted to hear.

“Sadly, the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear,” Pence said. “And while I made my case to him of what I understood my oath to the Constitution to require, the president ultimately, ultimately continued to demand that I choose him over the Constitution.”

In a Fox News interview on Wednesday, Pence contended that Trump “and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers asked me to literally reject votes, which would have resulted in the issue being turned over to the House of Representatives,” which he said would have resulted in “chaos.”

“People can read the indictment,” Pence told the outlet. “And frankly, I've said before, I had hoped it had not come to this point. I don't know if the government can meet the standard, the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt, for criminal charges.

“But the American people deserve to know that President Trump and his advisers didn't just ask me to pause, they asked me to reject votes, return votes, essentially to overturn the election,” Pence continued. “And to keep faith with the oath that I made to the American people and to Almighty God, I rejected that out of hand and I did my duty that day.”