Pence calls for ‘different leadership’ in presidential launch video

Former Vice President Mike Pence announced his presidential run in a roughly three-minute video on Wednesday, saying “different times call for different leadership.”

“I have long believed, to whom much is given, much will be required,” Pence said in the video, titled “Best Days.” “My family and I have been blessed beyond measure with opportunities to serve this nation, and it’d be easy to stay on the sidelines. But that's not how I was raised. That's why today, before God and my family, I'm announcing I'm running for president of the United States.”

Pence, who filed paperwork to run for president on Monday, will face off against close to a dozen other GOP candidates who have entered the race. But the biggest challenge will be from his former running-mate and the current Republican presidential front-runner, former President Donald Trump — an unprecedented matchup between candidates of the same party who have shared a ticket.

The video was released ahead of a kickoff event in Iowa on Wednesday. The former congressman and former Indiana governor, who’s relationship with Trump shifted after the Jan. 6 riots, did not include any open digs at the former president in his announcement video. Instead, he blasted the Biden administration and the left for the economic and immigration policies, while decrying the “assault” on “timeless American values.”

“We can turn this country around, but different times call for different leadership,” Pence said. “Today our party and our country need a leader that will appeal, as Lincoln said, to ‘the better angels of our nature.’”

Though the conservative Christian candidate is lagging in the polls, his campaign is looking to get a foothold with evangelical voters in Iowa.

“God is not done with America,” Pence said in the video. “The best days for the greatest nation on Earth are yet to come. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.”