Mike Pence launched his campaign for the US presidential elections in the hope of winning the nomination of the Republican Party, which, in his opinion, has become a choice between the “reckless” Donald Trump and the constitution, considering that the former president’s attempt to cancel the recent elections should prevent him from returning to the White House.
The former vice president has been a fierce defender of Trump’s policies in the White House. He is very religious and in the past worked as a radio talk show host and was governor of Indiana.
Pence confirmed that he was proud to stand with the former president-candidate “every day” during his administration from 2017 to 2021. But he set a line when Trump incited a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Pence was inside the building and supervising On certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the election.
“As I’ve said many times, on that fateful day, President Trump’s words were reckless and endangered my family and everyone in the Capitol,” Pence told supporters in Ankeny, Iowa.
He added, “The American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also asked that I choose between him and the Constitution, and now the voters will face the same choice,” stressing, “I chose the Constitution and I will always do that.”
Pence built his reputation as a loyal vice president and stood by Trump during a four-year scandal in the White House, bringing the religious right to the scene.
But the evangelical Christian’s refusal to accede to Trump’s demand to use his role as Senate president to sabotage the 2020 election has made him a pariah from Trump’s hardline base, and infuriated the populist president himself.
Pence was forced to flee for his life when a mob at Trump’s direction, on its way to the Capitol, stormed the barricades and called for the vice president’s execution.
“No one is above the law”
And Pence, who stressed in a video recording broadcast on Wednesday that “God will not abandon America,” is the first vice president in the modern era to challenge his old colleague to run for his party.
The announcement of his candidacy signals the difficult path he will follow in the campaign as he tries to distance himself from the chaos of the Trump years and build on the gains he believes the country has made.
Pence attacked Trump for backing away from conservative policies such as strict restrictions on abortion and fiscal liability, accusing him of breaking “from day one” on his promise to govern with “tact and morality.”
In response to a question about information published by the media according to which Trump’s lawyers were informed that their client was the target of an investigation into disregard for classified documents after he left the White House, Pence told an audience in a town hall, “No one is above the law.”
“I hope there is a way to move forward without the dangerous, radical and divisive step of impeaching a former president of the United States,” he added.
Pence, who is celebrating his 64th birthday, announced his candidacy for the presidency a day after former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined the race promising to be the only candidate not to punch Trump.
Trump remains the dominant Republican figure in much of the country.
“Pathetic”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and two former governors, Nikki Haley and Asa Hutchinson, are also in the running.
Opinion polls indicate that Trump is the favorite, ahead of DeSantis, who comes in second place, by more than thirty points.
None of the other candidates – including Pence – achieved a double-digit approval rating.
DeSantis visited southern Arizona on Wednesday, touting his tough stance on immigration and defending his state’s decision to send dozens of Venezuelan immigrants to California on chartered flights from Texas in recent days.
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, accused DeSantis of kidnapping and called him a “pathetic little guy” as part of the taxpayer-funded operation after officials said immigrants were misled onto planes with false promises of jobs.
DeSantis responded by criticizing cities and states that are “safe havens” like California and calling for “closing” borders, in a discussion in Sierra Vista with officials from Florida, Arizona and Texas.
“These are the policies they (bet) on,” DeSantis said, criticizing California’s more lenient approach to immigration control.
“Then what? When they have to deal with some of the consequences of that, they suddenly become very upset,” he asked.
