Mike Pence to address SC conservatives in potential first 2024 GOP presidential test

Former Vice President Mike Pence will give his first major speech in front of hundreds of South Carolina conservatives in Columbia next month in what could be his first potential 2024 Republican presidential primary test.

Pence will address between 450 to 600 ticketed guests of the Palmetto Family, a conservative nonprofit that lobbies the state Legislature based in Columbia, on April 29 at the Columbia Convention Center, confirmed Dave Wilson, Palmetto Family’s president.

A Pence aide told The Associated Press that Pence’s speech will focus on traditional conservative talking points and accomplishments of the Trump administration.

Palmetto Family was founded in 1993 to “persuasively present biblical principles.” The group successfully lobbied the General Assembly this year to pass the state’s most restrictive abortion law, now being challenged in court, and has helped to move other conservative-based legislation through hearings.

The Associated Press was the first to report Pence’s South Carolina travels.

“We believe in a marketplace of ideas, and are wanting to see as many people engaged in the discussion as possible,” Wilson told The State Monday. “And we appreciate the fact that Vice President Pence wants to have a conversation with conservatives in South Carolina to help us understand what has gone on in Washington, but also to encourage and inspire not only this generation, but the next generation as to how they can engage and be involved in what happens in the federal, state and local level.”

The former Indiana governor has done hardly any big public speaking events since leaving Washington.

Instead, Pence has been doing work for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and Young America’s Foundation.

Pence’s April speech will surely fuel speculation over whether he plans to run for on the Republican presidential primary ticket in 2024.

South Carolina is home to the first-in-the-South presidential primary, and speaking to hundreds of South Carolina conservatives will be a foundational test of whether Pence could be a favorite of conservative, religious groups.

The former vice president has remained mum on his 2024 plans, particularly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in which Pence and his family were rushed out of the Senate after rioters breached the federal complex as Congress was set to confirm Joe Biden as president. Some of the rioters were caught on video chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” and in a park near the White House that day, former President Donald Trump insisted several times that Pence had the power to reject the election’s outcome.

Wilson told The State Pence’s speech will be as wide open as he would like, a “place for him to begin to have an discussion about the issues important to conservatives, not only in South Carolina but across the country to understand how conservatives engage in what is going on in public policy.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story will be updated.