Edited video used to falsely claim Mike Pence endorsed Kamala Harris for president

Since March, former Vice President Mike Pence has said he will not back Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. 

"It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year," Pence said on Fox News’ “The Story” on March 15.

However, Pence also said during that interview that he would “never vote” for President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the presidential race about four months later. 

Now, with less than a month until Election Day, people on social media are sharing a video of Pence with claims that it shows him endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

“Vote for Kamala Harris as president of the United States or Tim Walz as her running mate. Period. Paragraph,” Pence says in the clip shared on X and Threads. 

Some people who commented on the posts asked if Pence’s purported endorsement of Harris is real. 

THE QUESTION

Did former Vice President Mike Pence endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris?

THE SOURCES

• InVid and RevEye, footage forensics tools
• C-SPAN video of Mike Pence speaking at “The Gathering” on Aug. 9, 2024
• Search of Mike Pence’s Instagram, X and Facebook accounts

THE ANSWER

No, Pence did not endorse Harris. The video was edited and shared out of context.

WHAT WE FOUND

The video of Pence is real, but it’s been edited and shared out of context on social media. 

In the original video, which comes from Pence's appearance at a conservative forum called “The Gathering” in August, the former vice president says he “could never vote” for Harris or Walz.

The video shared on social media cuts off the first part of Pence’s sentence to falsely claim he encouraged people to vote for Harris in the 2024 presidential election. 

A search of Pence’s Facebook, X and Instagram accounts show he has not publicly endorsed Harris, and has shared posts that are critical of the vice president. Reputable news outlets also have not reported on such an endorsement from Pence.

Pence also said he would not endorse Trump after the former president urged him to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, among other issues.

Using footage forensics tools InVid and RevEye, VERIFY found the original video of Pence at “The Gathering” with radio host Erik Erickson shared by C-SPAN on Aug. 9, 2024. Pence’s suit, the chair he’s sitting in and the background match in both the original video and the viral video shared online.

At about 41 minutes and 24 seconds into the C-SPAN video of the event, Pence said he will not vote for Harris in the presidential election. Pence’s comments in the viral video shared online come from this portion of his sit-down with Erikson. 

“I saw some people the other day who defected to the other side who were wondering where I would come down in this campaign. Let me go on the record here at ‘The Gathering.’ I could never vote for Kamala Harris as president of the United States or Tim Walz as her running mate. Period. Paragraph. I think it’s important that we understand exactly what’s coming down the tracks from the other side. But, in the same breath…we also need to think about who we are as conservatives,” Pence said. 

The viral video cuts out Pence starting his sentence with “I could never” to falsely claim he endorsed Harris.

Other parts of the viral video circulating online have also been edited. For example, the video leaves out Pence saying he’s “staying out of the presidential campaign” rather than endorsing a candidate. 

But Pence did speak about why he did not endorse Trump during his appearance at “The Gathering.” 

“Between me and my former running mate, I cannot endorse President Trump’s continuing assertion that I should have set aside my oath to support and defend the Constitution, and acted in a way that would have overturned the election in January of 2021,” he said. 

You can read the full transcript from the real interview here.