Mike Pence news: Ex-VP contradicts himself on Trump charges at CNN town hall launching 2024 campaign

In a crowded field, former Indiana governor looking to stand out from Republican rivals

Mike Pence says he would not pardon Jan 6 protesters

Former US vice president Mike Pence officially announced that he is running for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, pitting him against Donald Trump.

In a speech in Iowa on his 64th birthday, Mr Pence trod a fine line between embracing the record of the Trump administration and attacking Mr Trump for his role in the deadly Capitol riot of 6 January 2021.

In a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, Mr Pence reasserted his conservative culture war credentials on abortion, gun rights, crime, school choice, and climate change.

When asked about his estranged former boss, he called on the Department of Justice not to prosecute Mr Trump for his alleged mishandling of classified documents, immediately after saying that everyone should be treated equally under the law. Significantly, he refused to say he would pardon the ex-president if he won the White House.

In an increasingly crowded GOP field, Mr Pence faces competition from the likes of Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, senator Tim Scott and ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley.

On Thursday, Mike and Karen Pence celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary on the campaign trail.

Key points

• Mike Pence isn’t even a contender for 2024. Why are we pretending?
• Mike Pence launches 2024 presidential campaign in Iowa
• Pence announces 2024 run with video calling for ‘different leadership’
• Pence calls on DoJ not to indict Trump over classified documents
• Pence accuses Trump of treating abortion issue as an ‘inconvenience’

[8 June 2023 16:22 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Pence argues other GOP candidates 'walking away from timeless conservative agenda’

[8 June 2023 16:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence calls on DoJ not to indict Trump

Apparently, the former vice president believes no one is above the law unless it would be terribly divisive, then the law doesn’t apply.

Graeme Massie reports on last night’s CNN town hall.

[8 June 2023 17:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

CNN fact-checker calls out Pence for Trump lie over family separation

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale has called out Mike Pence for adopting the lie put about by former president Donald Trump and debunked five years ago that they inherited the family separation policy at the border from President Barack Obama.

There was no blanket separation policy under Mr Obama, rather children were separated from their parents at the border on rare occasions such as if they were being prosecuted for drug offences or if human trafficking was suspected.

The Trump administration made a whole new policy in 2018, announced by then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, that introduced zero tolerance for those crossing the border meaning that all adults were prosecuted and therefore all children were separated from their parents.

[8 June 2023 17:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Voices: Mike Pence isn’t even a contender for 2024. Why are we pretending?

Eric Garcia writes:

But Mr Pence likely sealed his fate as a presidential candidate not when he filed the paperwork to become a contender this month, but on January 6, when he made the correct decision to break from Mr Trump and his advisers’ cockamamie scheme to overturn the election. Mr Pence mentioned this during his announcement speech, excoriating the president for inciting the mob that wanted to lynch him and putting American democracy in peril.

Read more...

[8 June 2023 18:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence pays tribute to Pat Robertson

Former Vice President Mike Pence has paid tribute to firebrand Christian radio host Pat Robertson. Mr Pence wrote:

Pat Robertson’s bold faith was an inspiration to millions and we mark his passing with a sense of personal loss. Through his writings, broadcasts and advocacy, Pat touched countless lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ including mine. I have long been inspired by his stand for America and our traditional values. Pat Robertson will be deeply missed. Karen and I send our deepest sympathies and prayers to Gordon, the entire Robertson family and all who cherished this good and godly man. America is poorer but Heaven is richer with the passing of this faithful servant. God bless Pat Robertson.

[8 June 2023 18:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence makes abortion a central plank of 2024 campaign

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he plans to make the expansion of abortion bans a central plank of his 2024 campaign as he launched his bid for the GOP nomination on Wednesday.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

[8 June 2023 19:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

ICYMI: Mike Pence’s 2024 campaign launch

[8 June 2023 19:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

With the GOP field solidifying, where do Southern Baptists stand?

Southern Baptists form a core part of the white evangelical Christian bloc that has reliably and overwhelmingly voted Republican in recent elections, and is expected to again in 2024.

But Southern Baptists are weighing their options in the GOP presidential primary field — some already lining up behind Donald Trump, others wary of the former president, whom most evangelical voters supported in previous elections despite his vulgar language, serial marriages and sexual bravado. Some are looking at what Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or other candidates might offer.

But even critics of many Baptist voters’ embrace of hard-right politics have little doubt where this is headed in November 2024 — support for whichever candidate emerges from the GOP nomination process. The only question is the extent of the fervor they bring to the polls.

Read more...

[8 June 2023 19:55 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence hopes if Trump indictment comes it meets ‘very high threshold’

During a visit to a pizza restaurant, former vice president and 2024 presidential candidates was asked about the possible indictment of former president Donald Trump.

He said: ”If the Department of Justice chooses to move forward with an indictment, I would hope that it would meet the very high threshold for the unprecedented action of a federal indictment against the former President of the United States.”

[8 June 2023 20:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Newsom proposes Constitutional amendment for gun safety

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called on states to join him to adopt a 28th Amendment to the US Constitution that would enshrine constitutional protections and gun safety measures while preserving the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.

Alex Woodward reports.