Pence responds to Trump’s re-election bid

The former US vice president says Republicans will have “better choices” in 2024

American voters would like to see “new leadership” when looking at the 2024 US presidential election, former Vice President Mike Pence has said. His comment came shortly after his former running mate, Donald Trump announced his intention to run for re-election.

“You know, the president has every right to stand for election again,” Pence told the Associated Press on Wednesday, referring to Trump’s decision to seek a second term in 2024.

“I have a genuine sense that the American people are looking for new leadership that could unite our country around our highest ideals and that would reflect the respect and civility the American people show to one another every day, while still advancing the policies that we advanced during those years of service.”

“I think we will have better choices in 2024,” Pence added, speaking about the selection of a Republican Party candidate in the next presidential race. “I’m very confident that Republican primary voters will choose wisely.”

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Trump pledged to ensure that President Joe Biden “does not receive four more years” as he announced his 2024 bid from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday night. The contest for the Republican candidacy follows disappointing midterm election results, with the party winning just a slim majority in the House of Representatives and failing to retake control of the Senate.

Trump, who served as president between 2017 and 2021, is a highly divisive figure in the US but remains popular among his core base. He criticized Pence for refusing to back his claim that the 2020 election had been “stolen” from him by the Democrats.

Trump tweeted on January 6, 2021, the day his supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, DC, that Pence “didn’t have the courage” to stop the certification of Biden’s win by Congress. Speaking to AP on Wednesday, the former vice president called Trump’s words “reckless,” adding that he had “endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol building.”