Donald Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence has launched his bid to take on his old boss as the Republican nominee for the 2024 Presidential Election.
Pence filed campaign paperwork on Monday laying down the gauntlet to Trump, just two years after their time in the White House ended with an insurrection at the US Capitol and Pence fleeing for his life from Trump supporters shouting “Hang Mike Pence”.
The nation’s 48th vice president will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, which is his 64th birthday, according to people familiar with Pence’s team.
Pence, who describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” has spent months laying the groundwork for an expected run, holding events in early-voting states like Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire, visiting churches, delivering policy speeches and courting donors.
A staunch opponent of abortion rights, Pence supports a national ban on the procedure and has campaigned against transgender-affirming policies in schools. He calls his wife ‘mother’ and refuses to meet a woman one-on-one without her present.
He has argued that changes to Social Security and Medicare, like raising the age for qualification, should be on the table to keep the programs solvent — which both Trump and DeSantis have opposed — and criticized DeSantis for his escalating feud with Disney.
As vice president, Pence had been an exceeding loyal defender of Trump until the days leading up to January 6 when Trump falsely tried to convince Pence and his supporters that Pence had the power to unilaterally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
That day, a mob of Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol building after being spurred on by Trump’s lies that the 2020 election had been stolen. Many in the crowd chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” as Pence, his staff and his family ran for safety, hiding in a Senate loading dock.
The announcement came days after the Department of Justice informed Pence’s legal team that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the discovery of classified documents at his Indiana home.
The department sent a letter to Mr Pence’s lawyer on Thursday informing his team that, after an investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, no criminal charges will be sought.
Pence joins a crowded Republican field that includes Trump, DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie plans to launch his own campaign Tuesday evening in New Hampshire, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum will announce his bid Wednesday in Fargo.
