Washington: Mike Pence, a former US vice president, declared his candidature for president on Wednesday, framing the Republican primary as a contest between "reckless" Donald Trump and the law, contending that Trump's attempt to rig the 2016 election should prevent him from running again in 2024.
The deeply religious former radio talk show host and Indiana governor gave a passionate defence of the Trump White House's policies, saying he was proud to support his running mate "every single day" of the 2017–21 administration.
But on January 6, 2021, when Pence was inside the Capitol supervising the official declaration of Joe Biden's victory, the then-president incited a crowd to storm the building.
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Pence told supporters in Ankeny, Iowa, "As I've said many times, on that fateful day, president Trump's words were reckless and endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol."
The American people have a right to know that on that particular day, President Trump also pressed me to make a decision between the Constitution and himself. Voters will now have the same option. I decided on the Constitution and will do so forever.
Pence developed a reputation as a steadfastly devoted vice president who stood by Trump during his four scandal-riddled years in office and brought the religious right into the fold.
The evangelical Christian, however, alienated Trump's fanatical base and the populist firebrand himself by refusing to go along with the president's demands and use his position as the Senate's president to sabotage the 2020 election.
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When a mob that Trump had ordered to march on the Capitol broke through barricades and demanded the vice president's execution, Pence was forced to flee for his life.
Pence, who asserted in a launch video earlier on Wednesday that "God is not done with America yet," is the first vice president in modern times to oppose his former running mate for the party's nomination.
His announcement highlighted the precarious position he will find himself in as he tries to distance himself from the chaos of the Trump administration while simultaneously claiming credit for the improvements he thinks the nation made.
Pence criticised Trump for abandoning conservative policies like strict abortion restrictions and fiscal restraint, and charged that he had broken a promise made "on day one" to lead the country with "decency and civility."
In response to a question regarding media reports that Trump's attorneys had been informed that their client was the subject of an investigation into the improper handling of classified documents after he left the White House, Pence said during a CNN town hall that "no one's above the law."
I would just hope that there would be a way for them to proceed without taking the dramatic, drastic, and contentious step of indicting a former US president," he continued.
A day after former New Jersey governor Chris Christie entered the race, Pence, who was celebrating his 64th birthday, announced his candidature. Christie promised to be the only contender who would be unafraid to take on Trump, who is still the leading Republican figure in much of the country.
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and Nikki Haley and Asa Hutchinson, both former governors, are also running.
According to polls, Trump is by far the early front-runner, frequently maintaining leads of over 30 points over DeSantis, who is currently in second place. None of the other candidates, including Pence, are scoring in the double digits.
DeSantis visited southern Arizona on Wednesday, where he promoted his hardline immigration stance and defended his state's recent decision to send dozens of migrants, primarily from Venezuela, to California on charter flights from Texas.
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, threatened DeSantis with kidnapping charges over the taxpayer-funded operation after officials claimed the migrants had been tricked into boarding the planes with false promises of jobs. Newsom referred to DeSantis as a "small, pathetic man" and called him a "pathetic man."
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In response, DeSantis criticised "sanctuary" cities and states, such as California, and demanded that the border be "shut down" during a round-table discussion with law enforcement representatives from Florida, Arizona, and Texas in Sierra Vista.
They've (established) those policies, according to DeSantis, who criticised California's laxer immigration laws. "And what follows? They all of a sudden get very, very upset about that when they have to deal with some of the fruits of that.