On Friday, Vice President Mike Pence responded to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ recent remarks that prisoners should be able to vote during his address to the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention.
The vice president delivered the comments before President Donald Trump’s keynote address for the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) Leadership Forum. This is the third year both he and the President have spoken at the group’s annual meeting.
Mike Pence brought up Bernie Sanders’ remarks during last Thursday’s CNN Town Hall that he would allow incarcerated felons like the Boston Marathon Bomber to vote. “The same people who want to restrict the right to keep and bear arms of law-abiding citizens believe the Boston Marathon Bomber should be given the right to vote on Death Row,” Pence said, while the crowd cheered.
“I got news for you Bernie. Not on our watch.” said the Vice President.
He went on and said that “Violent convicted felons, murderers and terrorists should never given the right to vote in prison. Not now, not ever.”
Later in his speech, Vice President Pence addressed democrats touting the positive qualities of socialism: “It was freedom, not socialism, that gave us the most prosperous economy in the history of the world. It was freedom not socialism, that ended slavery, won two world wars and stands today as a beacon of hope for all the world.”
Vice President Mike Pence, along with his wife Second Lady Karen Pence, arrived first in Air Force Two around 10 a.m. for the speech.
He was greeted on the tarmac by Indiana’s Republican leadership delegation including his brother Rep. Greg Pence, Gov. Eric Holcomb, Sens. Todd Young and Mike Braun, and Reps. Jackie Walorski, Jim Banks, and Jim Baird.
The speeches were held in Lucas Oil Stadium, which holds 10,000. The convention is being held at the Indiana Convention Center on April 26-28.
