Former Vice President Mike Pence, whose friction with Donald Trump has recently taken the spotlight, declined to say on Sunday whether he would support the thrice-indicted ex-president should he become the Republican nominee in the 2024 election.
Pence, who is also running for president in the 2024 election, has continued growing more vocal about his role in certifying the previous election on Jan. 6, 2021, despite an angry Trump demanding he use his position to keep the then-president in power. Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“President Trump was wrong then and he’s wrong now. I had no power to overturn the election,” the Indiana Republican told Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I truly do believe that we kept our oath to the Constitution that day. But the American people deserve to know that President Trump, you know, asked me to put him over my oath to the Constitution, but I kept my oath, and I always will,” he continued. “And I’m running for president in part because I think anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”
In the months and years following the insurrection, Pence remained relatively quiet about Trump’s pressure to overturn the election. But between his decision to jump in the GOP primary and the indictment last week against the former president, Pence’s criticism of his ex-running mate has become more bold — including calling out Trump’s “gaggle of crackpot lawyers” for asking him to reject votes.
On Saturday, Trump went after “Liddle’ Mike Pence” in a Truth Social post for being “delusional” and going to what he called “the Dark Side.”
“I’m confident I’ll be able to support the Republican nominee, especially if it’s me.”
– Former Vice President Mike Pence
But despite indirectly saying Trump should never be president just minutes earlier, the former vice president repeatedly sidestepped the question of whether he would support the criminal defendant should he be the GOP nominee in 2024.
“Look, it’s awful early here. I mean, we’re still about six months away from Iowa, and then right after that, New Hampshire,” Pence told Bash. “And I got to tell you, I really do believe that there’s a lot of Republicans that know we not only need new leadership in the White House, but we need new leadership in the Republican Party.”
Bash again asked if Pence would rule out voting for Trump again in 2024, to which the presidential candidate said, “I don’t think we’ll have to make that decision.”
“What if you do?” Bash pressed.
“I’m confident I’ll be able to support the Republican nominee, especially if it’s me,” Pence responded. “But I will tell you, I’m confident, as they’ve done so many times before, Republican primary voters are going to choose new leadership for a new time in the life of our nation. We simply have got to move our country forward.”