Mike Pence tells CNN he will not support Trump in the 2024 bid

In an interview with CNN On Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence refused to compromise his support for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and left the door open to seeking the Republican nomination himself.

Speaking the day after the release of her memoir, “So Help Me God”, Pence was coy when discussing his own plans as he touted the Trump administration’s political agenda. But Pence was more direct when asked about the January 6, 2021 riot in the US Capitol. The former vice president called it “the hardest day of my public life.”

The Republican also revealed more about his personal feelings about that day and his views on the state of American politics after a presidency he said did not end well.

Check out the interview highlights

“Better Picks”: Pence Reacts to Trump’s 2024 Announcement

Asked about Trump’s new campaign for president, which he announced on Tuesday, Pence said he believed there would be “better choices” on the ballot in two years. the former vice president left open the possibility that one of those preferable options, in his eyes, could be him. “I’ll keep you posted,” Pence told Jake Tapper of the CNN 🇧🇷

“I think it’s time for new leadership in this country that will unite us around our highest ideals.” Pressed by Tapper about his future, Pence replied: “There might be someone else in this contest that I prefer more.”

Pence Calls January 6 “Toughest Day” But Won’t Testify to House Panel

It was, Pence said, the “most difficult day of my public life.” “I thought it was important as vice president to offer my advice to the president in confidence,” Pence said of his role that day, as Trump and other allies of the then president tried to convince him to launch an unconstitutional candidacy to block or nullify the results. of the election.

The Republican said his decision to ignore Trump’s requests was rooted in something deeper than their relationship. “I had a greater loyalty, which was to God and the Constitution. And that’s what triggered the showdown that was to take place on January 6th because I had sworn to the United States Constitution,” he said.

Breaking with the man who selected him as his running mate before the 2016 election and raised him to an Oval Office whisper “was tough,” Pence said. “But I will always believe,” he added, “that we did our duty that day by upholding the Constitution of the United States and the laws of this country and the peaceful transfer of power.”

In the days that followed, he was upset with Trump about the then-president’s role in the deadly insurrection. “The president’s words and tweet that day were reckless,” said the former vice president. “They endangered my family and everyone in the Capitol.”

But Pence also brushed aside any speculation about whether he would testify before the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, saying “Congress has no right to my testimony.” He said it would set a “terrible precedent” for a congressional committee to convene a vice president to discuss White House deliberations, arguing that doing so would violate the separation of powers and “erode the dynamic” between a president and vice president. .

Decision to break with Trump

after the CNN showed footage of the January 6 protesters chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” the former vice president said he was saddened to see the footage again, but that at the time “it pissed me off.” He said he moved to safety when the Capitol was stormed and told the Secret Service he wasn’t leaving, insisting on staying at his post, in part because he didn’t want the crowd to see his motorcade pulling away.

“But frankly, when I saw those images and when I read a tweet that President Trump posted saying he lacked courage in that moment, it pissed me off a lot,” Pence said. But, he added, “I didn’t have time for that.”

After years at Trump’s side through numerous scandals and crises – and also benefiting from the former president’s political rise – Pence said he decided that, in this fight, they would take opposing sides. “The president decided at that point to be part of the problem,” Pence said. He added that he “was determined to be part of the solution”.

The former vice president then discussed the House and Senate Republican and Democratic leadership meeting on a teleconference, reaching out to Pentagon and Justice Department officials “for additional resources” to help Capitol Hill officers. Congress finally reconvened on the same day and, after Republican challenges to the count, finally confirmed Biden as the next president.

“We demonstrate to the American people and the world the strength of our institutions (and) the resilience of our democracy,” Pence said. “But those memories, those images will always be with me.”

Pence recalls difficult meetings with Trump in the aftermath

Pence described in vivid detail his encounters with Trump in the days after the Capitol riot. When he first saw the Republican at the White House days after Jan. 6, he said the then-president immediately asked about his family and if they were okay.

While he was at odds with public perceptions of Trump, he believed that Trump was “deeply remorseful at that time”. “I could tell he was sad about what happened,” he said. “I encouraged him to pray. He told me many times that he was a believer, and I told him to turn to Jesus hoping that he would find comfort there – and that I was finding it now.”

In the days that followed, Pence said he saw Trump for another meeting and that the president was still “downcast.” After they finished talking about administrative business, the former vice president said, “I reminded him I was praying for him” and Trump “dismissed that.” “When our meeting came to an end, I stood up, looked at him and said, ‘I think there are just two things we’ll probably never agree on.’ And he looked up and said, ‘What?’”. “I referred to my role on January 6th,” Pence said. “And then I said, ‘I’ll never stop praying for you.’” “He smiled slightly and said, ‘That’s right. Never change””. And we parted amicably as much as we could after these events.

Pence campaigned with denialists after the 2020 election

Lamenting the underperformance of Republicans in the 2022 election, Pence noted that candidates who talked about the future overshadowed those who focused more on “relitifying the past.” “And I hope this is taken seriously by Republicans,” Pence said.

Asked why, then, he chose to campaign alongside election deniers – including Senate nominees Don Bolduc in New Hampshire and Blake Masters in Arizona, both defeated last week – the Republican said party loyalty trumped other concerns.

“I’ve always said, ‘I’m Christian, conservative, and republican – in that order. But I’m a Republican,” Pence said, “and once the Republican primary voters chose their nominees, I went out and traveled to 35 states over the last year and a half to see if we could elect a Republican majority in the House, Senate, elect Republican governors across the country.”

Pence added that his appearance on the stump with a candidate “does not mean, as it has not in the past, that I agree with every statement or position that the candidates I am supporting in the Republican Party have taken.”

He also attempted to falsely match Trump’s lies about voter fraud in 2020 with Hillary Clinton’s post-2016 comments, noting that she said “Donald Trump has not been a legitimate president for years.” “I think there has been a lot of questioning about elections, not just in 2020 but in 2016,” he said.

Adhering to a carefully crafted message

Pence has carefully crafted his explanation of the events leading up to January 6th, during that day’s attack on the Capitol, and in his conversations with Trump afterward – and he is not deviating from that explanation.

As these events unfolded, the former vice president’s comments were identical in his book, in an interview with CNN and in interviews with other news networks in recent days. He has made it clear what he is willing to say.

Among the key points: that Trump heard from the wrong lawyers before Jan. 6; that he was “angry” watching the attack on the Capitol; that he left Trump with a commitment to continue praying for him; and that the two no longer speak to each other. But it’s equally clear where Pence won’t go: He won’t reveal any smoldering resentment towards Trump, saying his faith demands forgiveness.

He won’t place the blame entirely on Republicans for stirring up the party’s base with falsehoods about voter fraud. He will not legitimize the work of the House committee investigating the events of that day.

Pence’s slow, measured delivery of a consistent message is a trait that harkens back to his days as a self-described “Rush Limbaugh on decaf” conservative radio host in Indiana. It’s an approach that has remained consistent throughout his political career, including 12 years in the House and four years as governor of Indiana. Pence often repeats virtually the same message – line for line, paragraph for paragraph – even when that message doesn’t directly answer the question he was asked.