Former VP Pence launches presidential bid with jab at Trump

Republican Mike Pence on Wednesday officially announced his entry into the 2024 US presidential race. The former US representative, Indiana governor and US vice president now joins a growing field of GOP hopefuls for the nation's top job.

Pence made the announcement in Iowa, with a speech touting his conservative Christian credentials as well as leveling criticism at his former boss and the current favorite to again win the party's nomination, Donald Trump.

Addressing the midwestern crowd, Pence sought to define himself as a man of morals with a sense of duty, calling out his former boss as well as current US President Joe Biden as too divisive and dishonest to hold the job of president.

Pence sought to thread the needle of praising the work he did with Trump when in office while distancing himself from the scandal-ridden former president, saying, "I was proud to stand by President Trump every single day when we made America great again," only to call Trump's claims of election fraud, "reckless."

What did Pence say about the January 6 Capitol riot?

Pence, whom Trump pressured to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, spoke about the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling it "a tragic day in the life of our nation."

As vice president and therefore president of the US Senate, Pence was tasked with certifying Biden's election victory on January 6 — had to be rushed to safety by Secret Service agents along with his wife and staff when angry Trump supporters delayed the vote certification and chanted "Hang Mike Pence!" as they roamed the halls of Congress that day.

Pence said when Trump demanded he choose between him and the Constitution, Pence chose the Constitution, saying of Trump's belief that the vice president had the right to overturn the election, "President Trump was wrong then, and he's wrong now."

The former vice president said, "The Republican Party must be the party of the Constitution of the United States," claiming Democrats were "trampling" on it and aimed to take away citizens' rights. He said Republicans must defend the "right to life" and the right to freely bear arms.

Before shifting his sights to Biden, Pence took one last shot at Trump, who is currently leading the Republican field despite several criminal investigations.

"I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again. Our liberties have been bought at too high a price."

How did Pence attack President Joe Biden?

Pence called Democratic incumbent Joe Biden's administration a "disastrous presidency," and pledged to lower taxes and end inflation — which he said was being driven by Biden's "trillion-dollar spending spree" — while giving "the American people freedom from excessive federal regulations." 

Some would argue that claim rings hollow considering the fact that the federal deficit ballooned during the four years Trump and Pence were in office.

Pence then moved to abortion, vowing, "I will always stand for the sanctity of life, and I will not rest and I will not relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the land."

Though many Republican-run states have pushed to drastically limit a woman's right to abortion — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for instance, currently running second to Trump, recently introduced a six-week ban — Pence stopped short of calling for a national ban on the procedure.

Biden and Trump both unfit for office?

In railing on Biden's "policy of insolvency," Pence painted both the current and former presidents as dishonest, saying they refused to be straight with the American people about the state of the country's finances.

He then moved on to the divisiveness gripping US politics, claiming Biden had broken his promise to restore decency and civility "on day one." Pence said he was convinced the country was not as divided as its politics but added, "sadly, it's clear that neither Joe Biden or Donald Trump share this belief."

Pence joins an increasingly crowded field of candidates that is likely to keep expanding, potentially improving Trump's chances of once again becoming the GOP's official candidate to face Joe Biden as the likely Democratic candidate.

Pence, who turned 64 on Wednesday, is currently a distant third to Trump and DeSantis, polling between 3%-6%.

js/sms (AP, Reuters)