Mike Pence spent his 2017–21 term as Vice President at Trump’s side. (file)
Washington:
Republican former Vice President Mike Pence has launched his hotly-anticipated challenge to his one-time boss Donald Trump for the party’s 2024 White House nomination, papers filed with the US Federal Election Commission showed on Monday.
The 63-year-old evangelical Christian was set to officially kick off his presidential campaign on Wednesday, joining an already crowded field with a video in the early voting state of Iowa.
Pence will then make his pitch to the nation at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Thursday) in a live televised town hall event, setting up the unusual scenario of two former running mates becoming rivals.
The former vice president spent his 2017-21 term as vice president on Trump’s behalf, honing his reputation as an unwaveringly loyal deputy who brought the religious right into the tent and who defended the president against any accusations. was ready to defend.
But after rejecting the Republican leader’s demand that he overturn the 2020 election in his role as president of the Senate, Trump has become a pariah in the world.
Constantly scolded by Trump after Joe Biden’s victory – and even “traitor!” Pence continued to publicly praise his attacker — at a conservative convention in Florida.
That eventually changed as Trump’s torrent of false claims of election fraud led to a crowd chanting for Pence to be hanged at the US Capitol.
Since the riot, Pence has called out Trump for endangering his family and others at the Capitol, and has emphasized his differences with Trump over the issue of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s handling of abortion rights.
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