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 21:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

GOP set to encourage early voting, mail balloting after years of opposition

After years of criticizing mail voting and so-called ballot harvesting as ripe for fraud, Republicans at the top of the party want to change course.

They are poised to launch aggressive get-out-the-vote campaigns for 2024 that employ just those strategies, attempting to match the emphasis on early voting Democrats have used for years to lock in many of their supporters well ahead of Election Day.

Read more...

[8 June 2023 21:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Watch: Pence asked about GOP voters being angry with him over Trump

[8 June 2023 22:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

How Pence came to run for the presidency

Joe Sommerlad looks at how the former radio host, congressman, governor, and vice president rose to throw his hat into the ring for the White House.

[8 June 2023 23:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence announces 2024 run with video calling for ‘different leadership’

Former vice president Mike Pence on Wednesday announced that he is entering the running for the 2024 presidential election, setting up a heated competition for the Republican nomination with former presidentDonald Trump.

In a launch video for his campaign, Mr Pence said a “different leadership” could turn the country around to prevent the American dream from being “crushed”.

“Today our party and our country need a leader that will appeal, as Lincoln said, to the better angels of our nature,” Mr Pence continued.

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[9 June 2023 00:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

[9 June 2023 01:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

[9 June 2023 02:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

[9 June 2023 03:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump treated abortion issue as an ‘inconvenience’, says Pence

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.

[9 June 2023 05:15 · 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.

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[9 June 2023 07:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence calls on DoJ not to indict Trump

Mike Pence has called on the Justice Department to not prosecute Donald Trump for his handling of classified documents but refused to say he would pardon the former president if he won the White House.

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