The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage will be awarded to former Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the 2020 election results in spite of President Donald Trump’s calls to remain in power.
“Despite our political differences, it is hard to imagine an act of greater consequence than Vice President Pence’s decision to certify the 2020 presidential election during an attack on the U.S. Capitol,” the John F. Kennedy Foundation’s Caroline Kennedy and Jack Schlossberg said in a statement. “Upholding his oath to the Constitution and following his conscience, the Vice President put his life, career, and political future on the line.”
Pence, who briefly ran against Trump in the 2024 presidential election, said he was “deeply humbled and honored” to be a recipient of the award.
“I have been inspired by the life and words of President John F. Kennedy since my youth and am honored to join the company of so many distinguished Americans who have received this recognition in the past,” Pence said.
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump held a “Stop the Steal” rally, which resulted in the Capitol riots in an effort to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results that declared Joe Biden the winner.
Trump called on Pence not to certify the election results of swing states, which Trump falsely claimed were ridden with fraud and rigged in Biden’s favor, but Pence refused to comply.
When approximately 2,000 protesters stormed the Capitol, the Secret Service recommended that Pence leave, but he stayed to certify the election results.
Some of the Jan. 6 rioters called for violence against Pence.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote at the time on X.
Two years later, Pence called Trump out for his actions and words that day, saying that Trump’s “reckless words endangered” his family.
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The award will be presented to Pence on May 4 at the JFK Library in Boston.