former vice president pence He gave up his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Saturday, ending his White House campaign after struggling to raise money and gain support at the polls.
Pence said at the press conference: “It has become clear to me: This is not my time.” Republican Jewish Federation Annual Gathering In Las Vegas. “So, after much prayer and careful consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president as of today.”
“We always knew this was going to be a hard fight, but I have no regrets,” Pence continued to the friendly audience, which was surprised by the announcement and gave it multiple standing ovations.
Pence is the first major candidate to drop out of a race that has been dominated by his former boss and later rival. Donald Trump, His fight underscores how much Trump has transformed the Republican Party. The former vice president is typically seen as a strong challenger in any primary, but Pence has struggled to find a base of support.
He chose to announce his decision at the Las Vegas event in part so he could continue to express support for Israel and make one final case as a candidate that the wave of isolationism and populism sweeping the Republican Party poses a threat to Israel. That’s according to two people close to Pence who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Pence’s thinking.
Pence’s decision, made more than two months before the Iowa caucuses, spared him from accumulating additional debt and potentially being unable to participate in the third Republican primary debate on Nov. 8 in Miami. Awkward.
But his exit is a huge blow to a politician who spent years waiting to become Trump’s most loyal deputy only to find himself in the final days of his term when Trump became convinced of Pence’s ability to overturn the 2020 When the election results came out, he became the scapegoat. And keep both men in office — a power Pence does not possess.
While Pence averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting the plan, he drew the ire of Trump and the anger of many Trump supporters who still believe his lies about the election and view Pence as a traitor.
Meanwhile, among Trump’s critics, Pence is seen as a driving force behind defending the former president at every turn, refusing even to criticize Trump’s most indefensible behavior time and time again.
As a result, the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found from August that a majority of U.S. adults (57%) have an unfavorable view of Pence, while only 28% view him favorably.
Throughout the campaign, the former Indiana governor and congressman has insisted that while he is known to voters, he is not “famous” and has set out to change that with an aggressive schedule that includes Restaurant and Pizza Ranch for multiple stops.
burns Always bet on Iowa, The state has a large white evangelical population and has long fielded religious and socially conservative candidates such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Rep. Rick Santorum. .Pence often campaigned with his wife, Karen, a Christian school teacher, and emphasized his hardline views on issues such as abortion, which he opposes Even if you can’t get pregnant. He has repeatedly called on other candidates to support a national ban of at least 15 weeks and pushed for a ban on the use of drugs as an alternative to surgery.
He tried to confront his actions head-on on January 6, 2021, explaining over and over to voters that he fulfilled his constitutional obligations that day and was fully aware of the political consequences. His campaign and outside backers believe the strategy will help defuse problems and win Pence the respect of most Republicans who they believe disagree with Trump’s actions.
But even in Iowa, Pence struggled to gain support.
Despite years of relationships with donors, his process of raising funds was equally difficult. As of the end of September, Pence had just $1.18 million in the bank and $621,000 in liabilities, according to his latest campaign filing. In the weeks since, the debt has grown, and with it, it will take Pence (who is not independently wealthy) years to pay it off.
The Associated Press first reported this earlier this month With Trump dominating the race for the 2024 nomination, those close to Pence are beginning to feel that remaining a candidate could undermine his long-term standing within the party. While they say Pence could hold out until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses if he wanted to — running on a limited budget and mounting debt — he must consider how that might affect his chances of winning the election. The ability to stay ahead of the conservative movement as he wishes.
Some say Hamas’s October attack on Israel pushed foreign policy to the forefront of the campaign, giving Pence a new sense of purpose as he warned throughout the campaign of a rising tide of isolationism in the Republican Party. . Pence has argued that he is the most experienced candidate in the race and has decried “appeasement voices” in the Republican Party that he says have emboldened groups such as Hamas.
But ultimately, Pence concluded he could still speak out on the issue without continuing his campaign.
He did not immediately endorse any rivals but continued to echo the language he has used to criticize Trump.
He said: “I urge all my fellow Republicans here to provide our country with a Republican standard-bearer who, as Lincoln said, will appeal to the better angels of our nature and lead us not only to victory, but to lead our country with polite.”
Trump did not acknowledge Pence’s statement during a speech at the same event.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who spoke immediately following Pence, also did not mention Pence in his speech, but later praised him on social media as “a principled man of faith who has worked hard to advance conservatives.” career and make unremitting efforts.” In contrast, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley began her speech by saying the United States owed Pence “a debt of gratitude.” South Carolina Gov. Tim Scott called him “a man of integrity and deep convictions” in a statement.
Pence is expected to remain involved, in part through Advancing American Freedom, a conservative think tank he founded after leaving the vice presidency, which he expects to become a replacement for the Heritage Foundation. He will also publish a book next month offering advice on balancing work and family.
Pence’s team is expected to continue advocating for policies he supported during the campaign, including pushing for more U.S. support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression and proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare to get the debt under control. Once a mainstay of establishment Republican orthodoxy, these ideas have fallen out of favor as the party embraced Trump’s isolationist and populist views.
—— Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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