Pence on Trump run in ‘24: ‘There might be somebody else I prefer more’
Former Vice President Mike Pence declined to say Wednesday whether he would vote for Donald Trump if his old boss became the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.
“Well, there might be somebody else I prefer more,” a smiling Pence said during an appearance at Georgetown University, apparently referring to his own political ambitions.
Pence, who’s widely thought to be laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign for himself, declined to confirm any intentions, saying he was focused on the Nov. 8 midterm elections that will decide which party is in control of Congress.
“What I can tell you is I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership, all my focus has been on the midterm elections and it’ll stay that way for the next 20 days,” Pence, the former governor of Indiana, said during a speech about conservatism that was marred by walkouts from protesters.
“But after that, we’ll be thinking about the future — ours and the nation’s — and I’ll keep you posted,” he said.
Trump has yet to announce any formal plans to run again, although he told New York magazine in July he has made a decision.
“Well, in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” he said, adding that the timing comes down to announcing before or after the midterms.
Pence, Trump’s running mate in the 2016 and 2020 elections and vice president during his administration’s four years, had a falling out with the 45th president over the results of the 2020 vote.
Trump and his allies pressed Pence to decertify the Electoral College results in his role as president of the Senate on Jan. 6, 2021, but the vice president refused, arguing that he did not have the constitutional right to do so.
Pence, in a speech in July, downplayed any rift between him and the 45th president.
“I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues,” he said. “But we may differ on focus.”
Trump’s supporters have called Pence a “traitor” and the crowd that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and erected a gallows.
As Pence talked at Georgetown Wednesday about how the media, tech and business have “locked arms to advance a woke agenda designed to advance the policies and beliefs of the American left and show intolerance to people who have divergent views,” a dozen or more people began filing out.
“Seems to me that having served many years in Washington, leaders in this nation have never been more out of touch, or more intent on imposing their agenda,” he said without missing a beat, ”walking out on people that might have a different point of view.”
