Mike Pence said it should be ‘no surprise’ that he won’t be endorsing Donald Trump for president
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Former Vice President Mike Pence said he would not endorse his old boss, Donald Trump, for president in the 2024 election.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence told Fox News on Friday.
“During my presidential campaign I made a 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 exercise on January 6,” he said.
Pence went on to say he disagreed with Trump’s positions on a range of policy issues.
“As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I’ve seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt. I’ve seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life,” Pence said.
Pence also criticized Trump for flip-flopping on TikTok, which he considered banning in the last year of his presidency.
Trump has now expressed support for the app as the House of Representatives passed a bill that could force Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban.
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years, and that’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign,” Pence said.
Pence refused to say who he would vote for in November but said he would “never” vote for President Joe Biden.
Trump and Pence’s relationship soured after the then-vice president refused to obey Trump and not certify the results of the 2020 election.
During the January 6 attacks on the Capitol, some rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” and Trump later defended them.
After Pence’s short-lived presidential campaign, Trump called on Pence to endorse him.
Trump officially clinched the GOP nomination on Tuesday, hours after Biden won his party’s nomination, confirming that the election will be a re-match between the two.