Mike Pence Heckled by Donald Trump Supporters at Iowa State Fair

Mike Pence was repeatedly heckled by Donald Trump supporters at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, with one woman branding him a traitor and not a Christian.

A flurry of Republican presidential candidates have either attended or will attend the ongoing state fair in Des Moines, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The two early frontrunners for the GOP presidential nomination are scheduled to speak on Saturday.

Pence has become something of a hate figure for a section of Trump's base. They are furious with the former vice-president for refusing to back the then-president's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome. When hundreds of Trump supporters stormed Congress on January 6, 2021, in an effort to stop the election result being certified, some chanted the phrase "hang Mike Pence" as they clashed with law enforcement.

At one point in Iowa, Pence and his entourage were greeted by a small group wearing 'Team Trump' T-shirts as he arrived for a radio interview. In footage posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by local media outlet Iowa Starting Line, one woman shouts "Pence is a traitor" and "far from a Christian."

Pence also delivered a 21-minute address, including a Q&A session where one man asked: "How is life treating you since Tucker Carlson ruined your career?"

On July 14, Pence clashed with Carlson during a discussion at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, primarily over U.S. military aid to Ukraine.

Responding to the question at the state fair, Pence said: "You know I had a very sporty debate with that former talk-show host from Fox.

"And I will tell you, when some people put out a video from that that cut off the back half of my answer, I simply tweeted the whole three minutes and say 'you know we used to call that fake news.'"

Pence later said that, if Russian President Vladimir Putin defeats Ukraine, he is likely to go on to attack a NATO country, resulting in a direct clash between the American and Russian militaries, which U.S. support for Kyiv makes less likely.

The ex-vice president was also challenged by a man who accused him of committing treason on January 6, prompting boos from the crowd. However, speaking to The New York Times, the man said he is actually a Biden supporter. He added that he was angry Pence didn't do more to stand up against those who tried to reverse the election outcome.

The man said: "I want Pence to have to explain himself at every event. He spent two years quiet and allowed this thing to fester, this disease, this cancer, to fester, and that's why we're in the case were in."

In a series of X posts earlier this August, Pence said the indictment against Trump after Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack is an "important" reminder that "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States." Trump has denied any wrongdoing and accused Smith of "election interference" with his probe.

In the 45-page indictment detailing the allegations against Trump, prosecutors say how Pence had resisted and rejected Trump's "knowingly false claims" of election fraud and his pressuring of the then-vice president to use his ceremonial role at the certification proceeding on January 6, 2021, to fraudulently overturn the election results.

Newsweek has contacted the Pence campaign for comment via the enquiry form on its official website.

Polling indicates Trump has a commanding lead over DeSantis in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination, potentially setting up a rematch of the 2020 contest against Joe Biden.