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Former Vice President Mike Pence said he’s not ready to pledge support for President Donald Trump’s third presidential bid, claiming there will be better candidates to choose from when the 2024 elections roll around.
Speaking to moderator Jake Tapper during a CNN town hall event Wednesday hosted one day after Trump announced he would again run for president, Pence went over his previous administration’s accomplishments before going on to say, “But in the end, our administration did not end well.”
“The American people are looking for new leadership, leadership that will unite our country around our highest ideals, leadership that will reflect the civility and respect that most Americans have for one another,” Pence told Tapper, while intermittently plugging his new book, So Help Me God.
He also entertained the prospect of a possible presidential run.
“And so I think in the days ahead, whatever role I and my family play in the Republican Party, whether it’s as a candidate or simply a part of the cause, I, I think we’ll have better choices, better choices than my old running mate.”
“I think America longs to go back to the policies that were working for the American people. But I think it’s time for new leadership in this country that will bring us together around our highest ideals.”
Pressed on whether he would support Trump if he became the Republican nominee, Pence again refused to respond affirmatively, instead offering, “I have every confidence that we will produce a standard-bearer for our party, whoever he or she may be, that will lead us there and lead us to victory in 2024.”
It’s evident the former VP still holds a grudge against Trump after the events of Jan. 6, when protesters grew unruly after Pence proceeded to certify the 2020 election instead of acquiescing to Trump’s request to send the questionable results back to the states for certification.
Earlier this year, Trump rejected allegations he called his former VP a “wimp.”
He elaborated on his sentiments toward Pence in a September interview with The Atlantic’s Maggie Haberman, remarking, “I said, ‘Mike, you have a chance to be Thomas Jefferson, or you can be Mike Pence’…He chose to be Mike Pence.”
As for Pence, he told ABC News’ David Muir earlier this week that he and his family were giving presidential prospects “prayerful consideration.”
Will Pence dare to challenge his old boss for the Republican nomination and thus risk becoming another Trump casualty, in the same vein of Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and a slew of other failed Republicans?
Political commentator Mark Dice gives his take on Pence’s town hall: