Pence decries cancel culture amid protests and praises Zelenskyy at University of Virginia

On Tuesday evening, former Vice President Mike Pence praised Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy, criticized President Biden and "cancel culture" and said he would tell his child "I love you" if his son or daughter came out as gay. 

His remarks at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, more than four years removed from a violent white nationalist rally in 2017, revealed a political figure trying to at once embrace and set himself apart from former President Donald Trump, as he begins to chart a course for his own potential presidential bid in 2024.

While his visit was centered around free speech and was billed as "How to Save America from the Woke Left," he also advocated supporting the Ukrainian people and called Russia's invasion an "unconscionable war of aggression." 

Former US Vice President Mike Pence waves as he arrives to speak at a campus lecture hosted by Young America's Foundation at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on April 12, 2022.RYAN M. KELLY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

He encouraged attendees to contribute to humanitarian efforts in and around Ukraine, while praising Zelenskyy, whose refusal to surrender to Russia has won bipartisan admiration, with the exception of Republican North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who previously called Zelenskyy "corrupt" and a "thug."