Former Vice President Mike Pence is doubling down on whether he will support his 2016 running mate and former President Donald Trump.
After briefly running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Pence said he would be withholding support for Trump this time around, claiming that the former commander-in-chief’s policies are not conservative enough.
Pence, whose rapport with Trump deteriorated following the January 6 riots, during which the president criticized him for not returning disputed electoral slates to state legislatures as president of the Senate, said that his announcement should not be surprising.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. I’m incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure, and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world,” Pence said on Fox News.
Pence also said that Trump was evading his conservative bona fides this time around, such as being committed to lowering the debt and the “sanctity of human life.”
He further remarked that Trump’s recent statements regarding China and his stance against banning TikTok in the U.S. represent a significant shift from his previous strong