Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice-president, announces White House run Republican who narrowly escaped harm at hands of January 6 rioters jumps into nomination race
Martin Pengelly in New York
Mon 5 Jun 2023 17.11 BST
Mike Pence, who as Donald Trump’s vice-president narrowly escaped harm at the hands of the January 6 rioters, has declared his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination next year, pitting him against his former boss.
Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, but will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday – his 64th birthday.
The former congressman and Indiana governor, an evangelical conservative, enters a primary dominated by Trump, who enjoys commanding polling leads, well clear of his nearest challenger, the rightwing Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
A Pence run has long been expected but he has not registered significantly in polling, generally contesting third place with the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.
Former US vice-president Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president with a firm denunciation of former president Donald Trump, accusing his two-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on January 6, 2021.
Key points:
Mike Pence says Donald Trump asked him to choose between him and the US constitution
Mr Pence is a conservative who supports a national ban on abortion
He joins Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie and others in the race
Mr Pence became the first vice-president in modern history to challenge the president under whom he served.
He said Mr Trump had disqualified himself when he insisted that Mr Pence had the power to keep him in office — even though he did not.
Mr Trump, he said, "endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol" on January 6.
"But the American people deserve to know that on that day, president Trump also demanded I choose between him and our constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice," he said.
"I believe anyone that puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again."
Mr Pence has spent much of the past two-and-a-half-years criticising Mr Trump, trying to navigate his political future in a party that has been transformed in Mr Trump's image.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:22 pm
by Dave from down under
"But the American people deserve to know that on that day, president Trump also demanded I choose between him and our constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice," he said.
"I believe anyone that puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again."
Pity he didn't publicly say that at the time...
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:22 pm
by Kendra
I lasted 15 minutes into the town hall.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:27 pm
by noblepa
How quaint. He actually thinks that he has a future in Republican politics.
He will only be President when it can be reliably determined that has frozen over.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 11:46 pm
by MN-Skeptic
Pence is trying to ensure that he have a future in the paid Republican talking circuit.
I think that's a motivating factor for a number of presidential candidates. They want the money they raise now, and they want to remain relevant into the future which means a continuing cash flow.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:29 am
by Foggy
Werd. That's the only explanation I've seen that makes any sense. He knows he has no chance to be president.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:24 pm
by bob
Foggy wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:29 am
Werd. That's the only explanation I've seen that makes any sense. He knows he has no chance to be president.
I want to believe a few of them are running, knowing they won't win, as an effort to correct their party's drift, and to return it to actual principles.
Not that the party actually is correctable; they believe it is.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:52 pm
by Foggy
Pence has no principles of his own, so he's not one of those.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2023 4:47 pm
by noblepa
Foggy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 3:52 pm
Pence has no principles of his own, so he's not one of those.
Mike Pence's principles are whatever Mother tells him they are.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2023 6:33 am
by tek
bob wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:24 pm
I want to believe a few of them are running, knowing they won't win, as an effort to correct their party's drift, and to return it to actual principles.
That is a very charitable take.
More likely IMHO, they are using "put the GOP back on the rails" as their schtick to get airtime and maybe improve their standing on the pundit grift circuit.
Foggy wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 7:29 am
Werd. That's the only explanation I've seen that makes any sense. He knows he has no chance to be president.
I want to believe a few of them are running, knowing they won't win, as an effort to correct their party's drift, and to return it to actual principles.
Not that the party actually is correctable; they believe it is.
I would believe that Hutchinson and probably Christy are running for this reason. Maybe some of the lesser knowns are also trying to normalize the party as well. I can see where they may think that non-MAGA Republicans getting up in front of America may encourage others to start being more vocal. Snowballs and all that.
Whatever4 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 13, 2023 4:12 am
Comedy from Mike Pence’s cousin.
That was without doubt the funniest take on Mike Pence I've ever seen.
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2023 8:43 am
by Tiredretiredlawyer
Encore!!!
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2023 10:33 am
by AndyinPA
Mike Pence 2024
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 12:10 pm
by raison de arizona
Dasha Burns @DashaBurns wrote:
BREAKING: Former VP Mike Pence makes surprise visit to Ukraine and meets with President Zelenskyy. Our reporting on the trip and exclusive conversation with Pence coming up across @NBCNews
