Mike Pence news: Ex-VP contradicts himself on Trump charges at CNN town hall launching 2024 campaign
In a crowded field, former Indiana governor looking to stand out from Republican rivals
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Former US vice president Mike Pence officially announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, pitting him against Donald Trump.
In a speech in Iowa on his 64th birthday, Mr Pence trod a fine line between embracing the record of the Trump administration and attacking Mr Trump 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, 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.
On Thursday, Mike and Karen Pence celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary on the campaign trail.
The GOP presidential field is largely set. Here’s where things stand...
After a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set.
A handful of stragglers may jump in later, but as of now there are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a more aggressive sorting period.
It will be a long road to the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee next summer when Republican delegates across the country gather to finalize their nominee to run against President Joe Biden. Surprises are guaranteed. Fortunes will change. But as of now, every Republican White House hopeful is looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed frontrunner in the crowded contest.
Here are some takeaways on where the Republican contest stands:
The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.
The Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set after a trio of new announcements this week
Southern Baptists are a key voting group for the GOP, which candidate might win them over?
Southern Baptists form a core part of the white evangelical Christian bloc that has reliably and overwhelmingly voted Republican in recent elections, and is expected to again in 2024.
But Southern Baptists are weighing their options in the GOP presidential primary field — some already lining up behind Donald Trump, others wary of the former president, whom most evangelical voters supported in previous elections despite his vulgar language, serial marriages and sexual bravado. Some are looking at what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or other candidates might offer.
But even critics of many Baptist voters’ embrace of hard-right politics have little doubt where this is headed in November 2024 — support for whichever candidate emerges from the GOP nomination process. The only question is the extent of the fervor they bring to the polls.
For many Southern Baptists, the only campaign question is which Republican candidate to support
Southern Baptists form a core part of the white evangelical Christian bloc that has reliably and overwhelmingly voted Republican in recent elections
Watch: Pence asked about GOP voters being angry with him over Trump
Pence would rather see armed school guards than gun control reforms
Mike Pence says he wants to see an armed guard in every public school in America to try and prevent mass shootings rather than gun control measures.
The former vice president told a CNN town hall that he believed there should be more gun-carrying security guards in American schools capable of taking down shooters.
Graeme Massie reports.
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