10:35 am UTC May. 6, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. – As Mike Pence discussed his tenure as vice president with some 500 religious Republicans in South Carolina, some listeners couldn't help but wonder if they were seeing a preview of coming attractions.
"I said to my husband, 'Did you think this was a trial run for a campaign speech?' " said Beth Atwater, an attorney from Lexington, S.C., who attended Pence's speech before the Palmetto Family Council last week.
Republicans across the country are pondering Pence's chances of becoming president – thanks in part to the man who remains at the heart of Republican politics and made Pence vice president in the first place: Donald J. Trump.