Pence says he's spoken with Trump 'probably a dozen times' since leaving office

Former Vice President Mike Pence shed light on his frequent communication with former President Donald Trump since they left office in January. 

"We've spoken probably a dozen times since the inauguration," Pence said on Thursday's installment of the Ruthless podcast while promoting his conservative group Advancing American Freedom.

Pence referred to the events of Jan. 6 as a "difficult" and "dark" day, but told the conservative show "We moved past it. We finished the work," putting emphasis on his focus that's "entirely on the future."

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"And I believe that future is bright because I think what we've got to do is tell the story of what we did the last four years, Smug, and not be smug about it," Pence joked to Ruthless co-host Comfortably Smug. "We also have to articulate a positive conservative agenda that will draw the American people to us, that would show how we would govern differently and based that on how we did govern differently during our administration and facing the challenges going forward."

Tensions appeared high between Trump and Pence as the vice president certified President Biden's election victory, sparking the 45th president to publicly scold his former running mate as he continued to challenge the results of the 2020 outcome. 

The former VP, though, spoke highly of Trump while reflecting on fond memories he had with the president, recalling one about runway drama he experienced while landing at LaGuardia Airport during the 2016 election. 

"By the time everybody was secured, everybody was off, I got into the car and I started to head downtown and I got a phone call immediately as soon as I got into car. And I answered the phone and he said, ‘Hey Mike! This is Donald. You guys okay? Everybody okay?’ And I said, ‘Yeah. No, we're fine. It was just a little bumpy ride at the end, but we're good.’ And he said- he said, ‘Oh, that’s great. Because it'd be a real hassle to get a new running mate,'" Pence said, sparking chuckles from the Ruthless co-hosts. "And I said, ‘Well, thank you for your concern. I appreciate that very much.’ That was a moment of his sense of humor that I got quite used to over the years."

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Regarding his political future, Pence admitted he's not a "long-term planner" and suggested there has to be a "calling" for him to run for office rather than him "seeking" it. 

But when asked if he'd consider returning as Trump's running mate in a potential 2024 bid, Pence responded, "wherever my wife and I feel called, we'll go." 

"I can honestly tell you at age 62, the last 20 years of our lives have been a privilege. And so whatever the future holds, we'll just take it to prayer, we'll examine our hearts, but I love this country… This is the greatest nation on Earth and I think it has fallen to us as conservatives and Republicans to defend and advance the freedom that's made this the greatest nation the world has ever known," Pence added.