Pence says he will not endorse Trump or Harris in this year's presidential contest
Though he was once second-in-command in the Trump administration, Mike Pence is by no means jumping on board his former boss's campaign bandwagon.
In fact, the former VP has gone out of his way to declare that he will not be endorsing either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris in the November presidential election, instead opting out of that part of the campaign season in order to focus on conservative issue areas and causes, as The Hill reports.
Pence not endorsing
Pence, who was himself a candidate for the White House in the current cycle, offered his take on the current state of the race during an appearance at “The Gathering,” an event spearheaded by Erick Erickson.
“For my part, I'm staying out of the presidential campaign,” Pence declared, while also noting that his advocacy group will invest $20 million to help influence the conservative agenda and battle back against the sort of populism “unmoored to conservative principles” he believes has taken hold of too many in the GOP.
From there, the former VP elaborated on the concerns he has with factions inside his own party as well as with disagreements he has with those on the other side of the political aisle.
“For the reason that I cannot endorse this growing abandonment of our allies on the world stage that's taken hold in parts of our party. I cannot endorse ignoring our national debt that reached $35 trillion just in the last week. I cannot support marginalizing the right to life in our party as we saw in our national platform,” Pence stated.
While he also referenced his disagreements with the manner in which Trump handled the aftermath of the 2020 election, Pence emphasized the fact that he was in no way offering support to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate and noted his belief that the GOP must “hold them accountable and make sure the American people know what they're offering.”
Enduring bitterness
Pence's unwillingness to back Trump this fall probably does not come as a shock to those who have watched their relationship deteriorate since 2020.
It was back in March of this year that Pence came forward and made his intentions on the subject quite clear, saying, “It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.”
Even before that, during his own campaign launch speech, Pence took a dig at the former president over the events of Jan. 6 by stating, “I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”
Speaking to Fox News' Martha MacCallum this spring, Pence added, “During my presidential campaign I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues, and not just our difference on my Constitutional duties that I exercised on January the 6th,” going to say that “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years.”
However, given the clear lack of support Pence had from voters within the Republican Party during his own 2024 bid, it seems doubtful that his recent expression of disdain for Trump will have a significant impact on the final results come November.
