Former President Donald Trump claimed on Friday that former Vice President Mike Pence and former Cabinet members would be “very disloyal” if they ran against him for the Republican Party nomination for president in 2024.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have also teased bids for the White House in the next presidential election. However, Haley has said she would only consider running if Trump does not.
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“Many of them have said they would never run if I run, so we’ll see if that turns out to be true,” Trump said during a phone interview with Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade. “I think it would be very disloyal if they did, but that’s OK too.”
The former president has not said whether he intends to run but has flirted with the idea of returning to the White House in 2024. Polls have him in a significant lead should he decide to run, and Trump said he would announce his decision soon. Gov. Ron DeSantis (FL) is the other Republican front-runner should he announce a presidential bid.
Pence has toyed with a bid this week after telling people at Georgetown University on Wednesday that there could be a candidate he likes more than Trump on the ballots in 2024.
“What I can tell you is, I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership,” Pence said. “All my focus has been on the midterm elections, and it’ll stay that way for the next 20 days. But after that, we’ll be thinking about the future, ours and the nation’s. I’ll keep you posted.”
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Pence also warned Republicans not to veer toward “unprincipled populism” during a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday. Despite working with Pence for four years as the president and vice president, Trump said that if he does decide to run again, Pence would not be on his ticket.
