Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a new interview that anyone “serious” about running in the 2024 GOP presidential primary needs to enter the race by June.
Pence made the comments after being asked by CBS News about his own timeline for launching a presidential bid, telling the outlet he would make a final decision “well before late June.” While former President Donald Trump continues to dominate polls as the party frontrunner since entering the race last year, Pence has refrained from throwing his hat in the ring while mulling the idea over with family.
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“I think that anyone that would be serious about seeking the Republican nomination would need to be in this contest by June,” Pence said in an interview clip released Saturday. “I think if we have an announcement to make, it’ll be well before late June.”
Pressed on if he was leaning toward running, Pence replied, “Well, I’m here in Iowa.” The response could be taken affirmatively, given that politicians traveling to Iowa is common ahead of a presidential campaign launch, though it is far from an official confirmation.
The former vice president has repeatedly said he expects to announce his 2024 plans sometime this spring. He appears to be actively considering a run despite the coyness, as evidenced by his frequent travel to the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
Asked about his plans in mid-March, Pence said he had received “a lot of encouragement” to jump into the race.
“I can tell you we’re getting closer,” he said of his thinking at the time about a decision. “I’ve been spending time with our family, been listening to friends around the country. And I expect before too long we’ll — we’ll know what our calling is. It’s all about what we feel called to do.”
In what could be a preview of his 2024 strategy, Pence has slowly started distancing himself from Trump as they inch toward their anticipated rivalry.
Pence largely avoided discussing what occurred between him and Trump, instead quietly keeping his distance until after last year’s midterm elections. Their feud occasionally re-emerged in the news cycle at the time, when the two would endorse opposing candidates in GOP primaries. The primary contests both served as a litmus test for Trump and Pence’s respective holds on the GOP and highlighted the divisions that developed between them.
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He eventually told of the monthslong pressure campaign he faced under the then-president as he refused to recognize their election loss or accept his inability to overturn it in his memoir, released one week after the midterms.
The former VP has since declined to back his ex-boss’s 2024 bid, arguing the Republican primary electorate will have “better choices.”
