By Raul Castillo
29 Oct 2023, 8:31 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump said that Mike Pence, who officially withdrew his candidacy for the US presidency, should now endorse him.
“People are leaving now and everyone is behind me,” Trump said at an event in Las Vegas, referring to Republican candidates dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. “I don’t know about Mike Pence. He should back me up. You know why? Because I had a great, successful presidency and he was the vice president,” he added, as reported by The Hill.
It is important to remember, however, the clashes they have had since Pence did not support Trump’s plans to stop Joe Biden’s electoral victory in 2020. Pence was Trump’s vice president and also a candidate for re-election in the last elections.
“But people in politics can be very disloyal,” Trump continued after his comments about Pence, according to the outlet.
In the first Republican electoral debate, last August, Pence had made reference to the situation, marking a clear distance from former President Trump.
“When the president asked me to put him above the Constitution, I put the Constitution first, and I always will,” Pence said in the debate in which Trump was absent.
At that time, several of the candidates recognized Pence’s performance in refusing to annul the 2020 elections, thus opening the door since then to a possible alliance with the former vice president, something that Trump has not done so far.
For Pence votes
Trump has not been the only Republican candidate to refer to Mike Pence’s decision to abandon the race for the presidency.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie praised Pence for his efforts in the race. He stated that it was a difficult race and that the former vice president made the right decision.
“I mean Mike, you know, ran a tough race, a good race. It was very difficult for him. I think he made the right decision for him and his family to get out of the race. And look, I think in the end, it just means that this race is narrowing, and everyone said it would,” Christie said.
Ron DeSantis also spoke out on the matter.
“Vice President Mike Pence is a principled man of faith who has worked tirelessly to advance the conservative cause,” DeSantis wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. “Casey and I appreciate Mike and Karen for their willingness to run on this campaign and we wish the Pence family the best in their next steps.”
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