Former Vice President Mike Pence is rebuking efforts by “one person” to choose the president. While he didn’t mention Donald Trump by name, it’s obvious who he was referring to. During a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California Thursday,  The Los Angeles Times writes,  Pence “laid out his vision for the future of the Republican Party” and that he was “attempting to unite the party’s quarreling factions by appealing to both traditional small-government conservatism and populist Trumpism.”

His remarks included an expansive reflection of his role on Jan. 6 certifying President Biden’s victory, explaining his actions as abiding by the law, despite pressure from then-President Trump not to do so.

Pence said:

“There is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone… I will always be proud that we did our part, on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”

He went on to say:

“I understand the disappointment many feel about the last election. I can relate. I was on the ballot. But there’s more at stake than our party or our political fortunes in this moment. If we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections, we’ll lose our country.”

The New York Times writes, “It was the furthest that Mr. Pence, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has gone yet in defending his role that day or distancing himself from Mr. Trump, to whom he ingratiated himself during their four years together in office.”