Former Vice President Mike Pence already stood no chance of being Donald Trump’s 2024 vice presidential running-mate, but he sealed his fate on Friday during an interview with Fox News.
Pence told host Martha McCallum that he “will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” a decision he said “should come as no surprise.”
The former Veep explained that Trump “is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” and added, “That’s why I cannot, in good conscience, endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
Although Pence had been a dutiful supporter of Trump, they fell out in 2021 after the Jan. 6 insurrection because Pence wouldn’t block the certification of electoral votes for the winner, Joe Biden.
The fact that Trump seemed to support the chants of Jan. 6 ralliers to “hang Mike Pence” probably didn’t help things either.
“I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues, and not just our difference on my constitutional duties that I exercised on January the 6th,” Pence said Friday.
Pence tried running for the GOP presidential nominee last year, but quit the campaign in October after he said it became “clear to me, this is not my time.”
Pence’s decision earned him some respect from never-Trumper conservatives and others.
But not everyone was impressed by the non-endorsement.
CNN’s S.E. Cupp claimed Pence’s explanation was “mealy-mouthed” and “impotent,” because he based it on “policy disagreements,” and not on Trump’s own behavior.
“It’s just crazy to me that Mike Pence can’t say — after all of this time, now that he’s made it official he’s not endorsing him — “It’s because Donald Trump is dangerous. It’s because he led an insurrection. It’s because he’s corrupt. It’s because he’s facing criminal indictments. It’s because he’s anti-America and anti-democratic.′ He can’t say all the very obvious things he has to say.”
Mike Pence on Friday said he “cannot in good conscience” endorse presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, a stunning repudiation of his former running mate and the president he served with.
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said on Fox News.
The former vice president, after ending his own presidential bid in October, withheld an endorsement in the 2024 Republican primary, but he previously vowed to back the eventual GOP nominee. Trump had said after Pence dropped out that his former vice president should endorse him, saying, “I chose him, made him vice president. But … people in politics can be very disloyal.”
While he said he is “incredibly proud” of the record of the Trump-Pence administration, Pence argued that the former president has walked away from conservative issues, pointing to Trump’s stance on abortion and US national debt and his reversal on TikTok.
“During my presidential campaign, I made it clear there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues. And not just our difference on my constitutional duties that I exercised January 6th,” Pence said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
“As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I’ve seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt. I’ve seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life. And this last week, his reversal on getting tough on China and supporting our administration’s efforts to force a sale of ByteDance’s TikTok,” he added.
Pence did not reveal who he’ll vote for in the 2024 general election, saying that he’ll keep “my vote to myself.” He, however, said he will “never vote” for President Joe Biden. Pence also suggested that he would not back a third-party candidate.
Pence broke with his boss in his decision to not overturn the 2020 election results while he was ceremonially overseeing Congress’ certification of Biden’s win on January 6, 2021. Pence later said Trump’s “reckless words” that day, when a mob of Trump supporters violently breached the US Capitol, “endangered” his family and others at the US Capitol.
In his own presidential campaign last year, Pence warned Republicans of the “siren song of populism” from Trump and his imitators.
Pence and his group, Advancing American Freedom, recently announced that they’re devoting $20 million to push conservative policies.
