Former Vice President Mike Pence strongly suggested he would rather his old boss, Donald Trump, not be the 2024 Republican nominee for president.
During an event Wednesday night hosted by the Georgetown Institute of Politics in Washington, D.C., Pence was asked if he would vote for Trump if he becomes the nominee.
“Well, there might be somebody else I’d prefer more,” Pence said, prompting a wave of applause in the room.
“If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for president in 2024, will you vote for him?”
Mike Pence: “Well, there might be somebody else I prefer more.” pic.twitter.com/nUEJ8mQIxO
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) October 20, 2022
“You know, what I can tell you is I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership,” he also said, according to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Asked about his own political future amid widespread speculation he will run, Pence said he and his wife Karen will “reflect at the right time, maybe in the months ahead, to determine what our calling is and to follow that calling, come what may.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 20, 2022
The reporter also shared that when asked about his own political ambitions, Pence said he and his wife, Karen, will “reflect at the right time, maybe in the months ahead, to determine what our calling is and to follow that calling, come what may.”
Trump, who won the 2016 presidential election with Pence as his running mate, lost his bid for reelection in 2020 to President Joe Biden.
There has been tension between the two ever since Pence resisted pressure by Trump and his supporters to stall the certification of Biden’s 2020 victory and send electoral votes back to several battleground states where GOP-led legislatures could try to overturn the results over supposed concerns about fraud and irregularities.
Pence has said in appearances afterward that he and Trump may never “see eye to eye” on what transpired on Jan. 6, but he has generally heaped praise on what the Trump administration accomplished in four years and did so again on Wednesday.
“By advancing principles of economic freedom, we became a net exporter of energy for the first time in 70 years. We held China accountable for trade abuses. We secured our border and reduced illegal immigration by 90%,” he said. “The armed forces of the United States took out the ISIS caliphate, took down their leader without one American casualty. The most dangerous terrorist in the world is gone.”
Pence added that it was the “honor of [his] life” to serve as vice president.
Pence, who is also a former U.S. representative and former governor of Indiana, has reportedly been making moves that could help him if he were to declare a campaign for the White House in 2024. Meanwhile, Trump has teased another campaign in 2024 but has not made a formal announcement. He also appears to have ruled out Pence as a 2024 running mate, asserting that “Mike committed political suicide” with his actions on Jan. 6.
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During the conversation on Wednesday, Pence also discussed his personal life since leaving office, giving anecdotes of his time as a civilian.
“My life has changed a lot since I left office. Karen and I moved back to Indiana, bought 5 acres, bought a riding mower, John Deere … 25 horsepower. One of the great things about no longer being vice president is that you get to drive your own car. One of the bad things is you pay for your own gas,” he joked to laughs from the audience.
