https://apnews.com/article/pence-trump-endorsement-c05ffad1e20381fed3cfc87b7071ba4cFormer Vice President Mike Pence, once Donald Trump’s unwavering right-hand man, confirmed Friday that he won’t endorse him for president.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence, who served as Trump’s running mate in the last two elections, said on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence said. “And that’s why I cannot, in good conscience, endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
Pence was one of multiple Republicans to throw his hat in the ring for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, which Trump clinched earlier this week.
The pair’s relationship soured after Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden and demanded that Pence block the certification of electoral votes. When Pence refused, the angry mob of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were heard chanting “Hang Mike Pence” as they broke into the building while Congress met.
“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, noting he believes Trump has weakened on his anti-abortion stance and his promises to get “tough on China.”
