Mike Pence slams Trump-approved RNC policy: "Profound disappointment"
Washington DC - Former Vice President Mike Pence has reemerged to criticize the Republican National Committee's new policy platform, which was approved by his former boss, Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Pence shared a statement via his Advancing American Freedom advocacy group, where he described the platform as "a slap in the face" to Republicans, as it "removed historic pro-life principles that have long been the foundation" of conservative values.
"The RNC platform is a profound disappointment to the millions of pro-life Republicans that have always looked to the Republican Party to stand for life," the former Indiana governor said, later adding that it is "not the time to surrender any ground in the fight."
His comments came a day after Trump's presidential campaign announced that the RNC had adopted their proposed platform, some of which Trump wrote himself.
The new platform mirrored much of Trump's rhetoric regarding a number of issues but most notably urged the party to adopt his position that abortion should remain a state's rights issue, straying away from talks of a federal ban.
Pence, a long-time pro-life advocate and evangelical Christian, did not mention Trump by name in his statement, but he has previously argued that his former boss' abortion stance doesn't go far enough.
Mike Pence and Donald Trump's relationship goes south
Pence served alongside Trump in 2016, but the two became estranged after his boss reportedly tried to pressure him to help in overturning the 2020 election results.
He has since become an outspoken critic of Trump and was one of his earliest rivals in the Republican primaries but ultimately dropped out last October due to poor polling.
Pence went on in his statement to urge the party to reject the new platform when it is proposed at next week's Republican National Convention.
Cover photo: Collage: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire & SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP