Trump and Pence shake hands at Jimmy Carter's funeral service amid frosty relationship
WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence briefly greeted each other and shook hands at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service on Thursday following a frosty relationship.
Their interaction in the Washington National Cathedral marked the first time they’ve been seen together in public in four years. Former Second Lady Karen Pence remained seated and did not shake Trump’s hand.
The two men hit a crossroads during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, in which Trump pressured Mike Pence to reject electoral votes from certain states that President Joe Biden won.
But Mike Pence refused to follow through, later saying that there’s “almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”
The two also ran against each other in the Republican 2024 presidential primaries, during which Trump attempted to cast the blame for the Capitol attack onto Mike Pence.
Mike Pence dropped out of the 2024 race and said in an interview with Fox News that he wouldn’t endorse Trump for president.
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” he said at the time.
In his memoir published in 2022, Mike Pence recounted the Capitol attack and wrote that Trump’s “reckless words” endangered his family that day.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump and Pence reunite at Carter's funeral service, shake hands