Mike Pence slams Trump over ‘tragic’ Jan. 6 riot, trains fire on GOP rivals in 2024 run kickoff
Former Vice President Mike Pence launched his 2024 presidential campaign Wednesday by recounting the successes of former President Donald Trump — before lambasting him over the events of Jan. 6, 2021, that drove a wedge between the two men.
Pence, 64, referred to the Capitol riot as “a tragic day in the life of our nation” and said Trump had forced him to “choose between him and the Constitution.”
“Now voters will be faced with the same choice. I chose the Constitution, and I always will,” he said, receiving a standing ovation from his audience in Ankeny, Iowa, outside Des Moines.
“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 Sates again,” he added.
“Let me say from my heart: I understand the disappointment many still feel about the outcome of the 2020 election. I can relate. I was on the ballot. But I had no right to overturn the election and [Vice President] Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024,” Pence went on, earning another standing ovation.
The former vice president also praised “the courage of law enforcement” for putting an end to that day’s violence and said that he swore an oath to defend the Constitution, just like members of the US military.
“As your president, I will always stand on the Constitution of the United States, and I will always stand with the men and women who support and defend the Constitution in the uniform of the United States, at home and abroad,” he added. “So help me God.”
During the riot, Trump asked participants “to remain peaceful” and “support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement,” but waited hours before demanding that his supporters go home.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” the then-commander-in-chief tweeted amid the unrest.
Pence launched his presidential campaign on his 64th birthday, becoming the first vice president in modern US history to challenge his former boss.
He served as governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017 and in the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013, earning a reputation as one of the most conservative members of the Republican caucus.
“When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to govern as a conservative. And together we did just that,” he said during his speech, having earlier noted their 2017 tax cut law and the appointment of three conservative Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling last year.
“Today he makes no such promise,” Pence went on. “After leading the most pro-life administration in American history, Donald Trump and others in this race are retreating from the cause of the unborn.”
In addition to Trump, Pence’s comment may have been a jab at his closest competitor in the race, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who in a CNN town hall Sunday night advocated for banning late-term abortions but declined to say at what point in a pregnancy the procedure should be outlawed.
Trump, for his part, has also declined to say what limits on abortion he supports, and blamed some midterm candidates’ rhetoric for their losses last November.
Pence also trained his fire on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — the only candidate whom polls show within striking distance of Trump — for the 44-year-old’s statement earlier this year that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a “territorial dispute.”
“I know the difference between a territorial dispute and a war of aggression,” he said, after having hit Trump for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “genius” at the start of the conflict.
The former vice president called for a return to “a Republican agenda of a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility and traditional values that led us to victory in the past.”
He also slammed President Biden, saying the commander-in-chief “has continually vilified those of us that disagree with him” despite pledging a return to “civility” under his leadership.
Pence is currently drawing 3.8% support, good for fourth place behind Trump (53.2%), DeSantis (22.4%) and Haley (4.4%) in the RealClearPolitics average.
“Mike Pence’s entrance into the race caps off another bad week for Ron DeSantis’ faltering campaign,” Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc., said in a statement, “but the question most GOP voters are asking themselves about Pence’s candidacy is ‘Why?'”
