Karen Pence is not a woman I thought I might ever write an entire article about. Previously, the most interesting thing about her was her husband Mike’s weirdness about not being in a room with another woman without Karen — who he calls “mother” — present.

But it looks like her grudge-holding prowess is far greater than her husband’s, and it was a thing to behold at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral. When the Trumps walked by to their seats at the service, even as Mike Pence was greeting them both with a standing handshake, Karen remained seated and didn’t give either of them so much as a glance.

It’s not hard to understand: Donald Trump’s raw desire for power led directly to the events of January 6, 2021, which saw tens of thousands of his supporters calling for the execution of Pence. Even Trump himself expressed support for the prospect of hanging his former vice president, as the Jan 6 committee heard in testimony about what then-chief of staff Mark Meadows told people during the attack.

And of course, if Donald Trump felt like his first presidency was successful, why then wouldn’t he want to have the same vice president when he ran again? But Trump passed over Pence, of course, and selected JD Vance instead, a younger, more tech-savvy candidate who immediately signaled his willingness to do anything Trump desires.

Karen never forgot that either, and you can see it in her body language as the president-elect and his wife made their way to their seats in the row directly in front of the Pences:

Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/VJB14nzOhR

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 9, 2025

We later found out exactly how Pence felt during the attack, when he realized that not only were people calling for his death, but Trump was joining the fracas. In his memoir, So Help Me God, Pence recounts seeing Trump’s infamous tweet from that day. Trump had said Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”

Pence saw it differently, and in his book, said “The truth was, as reckless as the president’s tweet was, I really didn’t have time for it. Rioters were ransacking the Capitol. … The president had decided to be part of the problem. I was determined to be part of the solution. I ignored the tweet and got back to work.”

There were plenty of messages on social media scolding Karen Pence for not being very Christ-like or forgiving. But if I’m being honest, while I don’t have a whole lot of good things to say about Mike and Karen Pence — they are awful people, even if Trump turned on them — I can’t say that I disagree with her decision not to acknowledge them.

Even if it is just over the personal slight and the ill thoughts toward her husband, rather than the disgusting nature of Trump’s naked power grab and disdain for the Constitution, Karen has every right to be angry at Donald Trump, and even has the right to be separately angry at Melania for not standing up to her husband the way a strong woman should.

Kudos to Mike for giving Trump his very first handshake from him since the day of the Trump insurrection. That’s a lot more than I’d have done.