Former Vice President Mike Pence’s name should not be expected next to Donald Trump’s during the 2024 presidential election, according to his former running mate, who said people wouldn’t “accept it.”
“I don’t think the people would accept it,” Trump told the Washington Examiner this week, pointing to the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump, who has long claimed massive fraud took place during the election, also repeatedly pushed his belief that Pence could have overturned the election results during the congressional certification last year.
“Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end. We had a very good relationship,” the 45th president said, revealing that the two haven’t spoken “in a long time.”
Pence, too, has distanced himself from his former colleague in the past year over Trump’s false claims.
“Elections are about the future,” Pence recently said. “My fellow Republicans, we can only win if we are united around an optimistic vision for the future based on our highest values. We cannot win by fighting yesterday’s battles, or by relitigating the past.”
While Trump said he “still” likes Pence, he remained critical of the former vice president’s decision not to try to overturn the election results.
“Mike thought he was going to be a human conveyor belt, that no matter how fraudulent the votes, you have to send them up to the Old Crow,” Trump said, using his nickname for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“But that turned out to be wrong. Because now, as you know, they are feverishly working to try and get it so that the vice president cannot do what Mike said he couldn’t do,” he continued. “Obviously, they were either lying, misrepresenting, or they didn’t know.”
“I was disappointed in Mike.”
It is unclear if Trump will run again for president in the 2024 election, but he has repeatedly hinted at the possibility. He is expected to make an official announcement following this fall’s midterm elections.
In recent weeks, Pence has also raised some questions about whether he is planning to run, refusing to rule out the possibility earlier this month.
“All my focus right now is on 2022,” Pence told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo. “I think we have a historic opportunity to reclaim majorities in the House and Senate, to elect great Republican governors around America and, in 2023, I’m confident the Republican Party will nominate a candidate who will be the next president of the United States of America and at the right time, my family and I will reflect and consider how we might participate in that process.”
His comments came after Bartiromo asked the former vice president if he wants to see Trump run again.
“But now more than ever, with war in Europe and with an administration seemingly intent on weakening our country, driving our nation toward a European-style welfare state, we need strong Republican majorities on Capitol Hill and strong Republican governors and that’s what we are going to work to achieve,” Pence said.
