Pence Says He’d ‘Absolutely’ Support Whoever the GOP Nominee Is Right After Telling Crowd ‘Trump Should Never Be President’ Again
Former Vice President Mike Pence spent part of his presidential campaign announcement Wednesday disavowing Donald Trump, saying he should “never be president of the United States again.”
But in an interview shortly afterward, Pence said he would endorse Trump if the former president were to become the Republican nominee.
During his announcement, Pence spoke of Jan. 6., 2021, when some Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol called for him to be hanged.
“On that fateful day, President Trump’s words were reckless,” Pence said. “They endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol. The American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice. I chose the Constitution, and I always will.
“I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.”
CNN national correspondent Kyung Lah said Pence’s announcement was, “the sharpest, and the strongest, and the most forceful we’ve seen Pence come out against Trump, especially on Jan. 6.”
“Important thing to note there,” Lah added, “is after he made those comments, he did do an interview on Fox shortly after that where he did say, he did—he will sign the RNC pledge to support the Republican nominee. So that is something else to remember as we go further along in this process.”
Pence gave his first post-announcement interview to Fox News co-hosts Sandra Smith and John Roberts.
Polls currently show Pence in third place behind Ron DeSantis and frontrunner Trump. Smith asked Pence if he would vote for Trump if the former president became the GOP nominee.
“Mr. Vice President, your party has laid out the criteria for the debate stage and the debates are going to be very important as they always are. Those primary debates,” Smith said. “And one of the requirements is that you vow to support whoever becomes the eventual nominee of your party. Have you considered that, and will you commit to that?”
“Well, I will absolutely support the Republican nominee for president in 2024, especially if it’s me,” Pence joked.
“Look, I have been a Republican since I joined the Reagan Revolution,” he continued. “But I honestly believe that the premise of your question is, I think we’ve got a great group of men and women running for this nomination. I truly do believe that we’ve got better choices in the days ahead and enthusiasm that we have met here traveling through Iowa and even here today, I believe gives me great confidence that we’ll be able to not just endorse, but enthusiastically support the Republican nominee for president, and we are going to work our hearts out for us and for our family to be just that.”
Watch the clips above via CNN and Fox News.
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