Mike Pence to take on Donald Trump as ex-VP confirms Presidential election bid
Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to announce his candidacy for president in 2024 as he sets up a titanic clash with his ex-boss, Donald Trump.
Mr Pence served as VP under Trump from 2017 to 2021, but the pair appeared to fall out after Donald lost the 2020 election to incumbent Joe Biden.
Their time in the White House together ended with an insurrection at the US Capitol and Mr Pence fleeing for his life.
Mr Pence, the nation’s 48th vice president, will formally launch his bid for the Republican nomination with a video and kickoff event in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, which is his 64th birthday, according to people familiar with his plans.
He was set to file papers making his candidacy official with the Federal Election Commission.
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Mr Pence distanced himself from Trump's actions after the elections and does not agree with the former president's false claims that the 2020 election should have been overturned.
'We had a close working relationship... It did not end well,' Pence said (AP)“For four years, we had a close working relationship. It did not end well,” Mr Pence wrote in his book, “So Help Me God.”
He said "reckless words" spoken by his former boss paved the way for the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump, desperate to overturn his loss and remain in power, had tried to convince Mr Pence — and his supporters — that Mr Pence could somehow reject voters' will as he presided over the ceremonial counting of the electoral college votes on January 6, 2021, even though the vice president has no such power.
As the count was underway, a violent mob of Trump's supporters stormed the building, smashing through windows, assailing police and sending Mr Pence, his family and his staff, racing for cover as members of the mob chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”
The idea that Pence could have stopped the counting of Electoral College votes is false.
Vice Presidents are present at the procedure in a ceremonial role only. An attempt to do what Trump suggested Mr Pence could have done would have caused a Constitutional crisis.
Pence blamed Trump's 'reckless words' (Getty Images)On Friday, Mr Pence said: "The American people must know that we will always keep our oath to the Constitution, even when it would be politically expedient to do otherwise...
"The only role of Congress with respect to the Electoral College is to open and count votes submitted and certified by the states. No more, no less."
Footage from the riot showed Officer Eugene Goodmanbravely leading the mob away from the Senate, all while Vice President Pence was still in a room near the chamber.
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“President Trump is wrong,” Mr Pence said in February. “I had no right to overturn the election.”
His selling point, therefore, may be to defend the policies of the Trump-Pence administration, but market himself as the potential president with the policies but without the chaos.
Mr Pence has warned against the growing populist tide in the party, and advisers see him as the only traditional, Reagan-style conservative in the race.
The former VP opposes abortion rights and supports a national ban.
Mr Pence has also argued against transgender-affirming policies in schools and raising the age for qualification to policies like Social Security and Medicare should be on considered.
He will also be up against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, consistently polling in second in the GOP race.
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