NBC News has reported that Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to launch a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in the first week of June. He intends to begin his campaign with a video and a speech in Des Moines, Iowa on June 7.
Pence will be among many Republicans running for president, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Others in the race are Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, radio host Larry Elder, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
It is anticipated that more people will join the race soon, including Chris Christie, a former Governor of New Jersey. However, they will have a difficult challenge as DeSantis is currently ahead of Trump in most polls, and the Florida governor leads by a significant margin over the others. Additionally, the former vice president will face the hurdle of differentiating himself from his previous boss, which could invite further criticism.
Ever since Trump announced seeking reelection, he has been mostly targeting DeSantis with his attacks. However, Trump has consistently held the belief that Pence should have taken action to prevent the certification of Biden’s electoral victory on January 6, 2021. Trump even placed the responsibility for the subsequent violence on that day on his former vice president.
“Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways you can blame him for Jan. 6,” Trump said in March of this year. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, number one, you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6’ as we call it.”
On multiple occasions, Pence criticized Trump for his role in the January 6 riot and expressed concern that Trump’s actions put Pence’s family at risk.