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Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke yesterday at a conference of conservative college students in Washington, D.C., two blocks from the White House. And he got this question from a student named Andrew.

“My question is, President Trump and yourself are both speaking this week in D.C., and there seems to be a divide between the two of you on your outlook on what the future of the conservative movement might be,” Andrew asked. “So do you think that this divide extends to the rest of the conservative movement, like the general public, and what do you think we can do to alleviate it?”

Pence began his answer by saying that he couldn’t be more proud of the accomplishments of the Trump-Pence administration.

“To promote a growing economy, to secure our border,” Pence said. “We appointed more than 300 conservatives to our federal courts at every level, including three Supreme Court justices. And I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to serve as Vice President. So I don’t know that our movement is that divided.”

But if the conservative movement is “not that divided,” why did he and Trump support different candidates in the primary for Georgia governor last May, and now the Arizona governor’s primary? Here’s how he explained that.

“I don’t know that the President and I differ on issues, but we may differ on focus,” Pence said. “I truly do believe that elections are about the future, and that is absolutely essential at a time when so many Americans are hurting that we don’t give way to the temptation to look back. But I think the time has come for us to offer a bold, positive agenda to bring America back. And I’ll continue to carry that message all across this nation.”

He even had a little smile on his face as he spoke.

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Now, Democrats might dismiss that answer as totally evasive or simply the conservative version of political correctness, but what I kept thinking was, “here’s a rare example of magnanimity.”

Here’s a man who came close to witnessing a shootout between his secret service detail and an avenging mob mobilized by his former boss now saying the main difference between them is focus. He even calls Trump president.

So since I was talking the other day about Christian nationalism and the hypocrisy of some of the politicians who are selling it, it’s only fair to point out that what I saw in Mike Pence was the very embodiment of turning the other cheek.