There's 'something deeper' behind Mike Pence ditching Trump: conservative Rick Wilson

It's a big deal for a former vice president to refuse to endorse their former president, especially when that ex-president is once again their shared party's nominee, and Mike Pence's decision to do so deserves some reflection, according to conservative Rick Wilson.

Wilson, in a Substack published on Saturday, called attention to the evangelical politician's decision to tell Fox News that he's not falling in line with Trump.

"He’s not a good guy, a strong guy, or the future of any civic or political leadership I can embrace. He was an enabler, a cheerleader, a tireless advocate for Trump from 2015 until this week," Wilson said. "Slowly, surely, though, something woke up in Mike Pence. Something clicked."

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Wilson then continued, stressing the importance of the Pence move.

"I could trivialize it and say it was just that minor little moment where Trump’s amateur-hour shock troops tried to kill Pence and his family, but I suspect it’s something deeper."

Courage is the "first and highest virtue," according to Wilson.

"It’s the one virtue I work on more than any other because it’s the most powerful enabling technology. You become more consequential if you’re brave enough to stand against evil, even for a moment. It gives you a legacy and a reason to be remembered," he wrote. "So it had meaning when Mike Pence stood up this week, finally breaking off the shackles of the past he built to say he wouldn’t support Donald Trump in 2024. It was a small chip in the armor of Trumpism, one more moment where the MAGA movement is forced to turn on and attack one of its own."

Wilson further noted that "Pence did the right thing on January 6th, 2021, and the right thing on March 15, 2024, so two cheers for late courage."

"After all, he’s facing the risks any American faces now for opposing Trump and Trumpism," according to the activist. "A political exile, living as a permanent target by the MAGA mob, and the end of his comfortable role in the conservative movement seems like a punishment, but it’s a soft landing compared to true political courage."