Former US vice president Mike Pence officially announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, putting him up against former president Donald Trump.
In a speech in Iowa, Mr Pence trod a fine line between embracing the record of the Trump administration and attacking the former president for his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021.
In a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, Mr Pence reasserted his conservative culture war credentials on abortion, gun rights, crime, school choice, social security and climate change.
When asked about his estranged former boss, he called on the Department of Justice not to prosecute Mr Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, immediately after saying that everyone should be treated equally under the law. Significantly, he refused to say he would pardon the ex-president if he won the White House.
In an increasingly crowded GOP field, Mr Pence faces competition from the likes of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, senator Tim Scott and ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
He is the first veep in modern US history to run against his former running mate.
