WASHINGTON -- Former President Donald Trump teases that he will be making a third attempt for the White House. However, he signals that his running mate will not be joining him this time.
Trump stated that he did not believe the people would accept Pence as his running-mate on a possible 2024 ticket in an interview with The Washington Examiner. Before formally choosing a running partner, Trump must first secure the Republican nomination.
"Mike and me had a wonderful relationship, except for what happened at the end. Trump stated that they had a very positive relationship. Trump said, "I haven’t spoken to him for a long while."
Trump refers to Pence's refusal of overturning the 2020 election after Trump asked him to. Pence later claimed that he did not have the power to overturn the 2020 election. Trump, however, has criticised that position and suggested that Pence could use the power of vice presidency to stop President Joe Biden from winning. A majority of constitutional scholars agree that Trump's position has no merit.
Trump's comments come at a time when Pence is increasingly distant from the former president. NBC News reported this week that Pence has been more open to Trump in the last five weeks than he was in the five prior years, as he contemplates running for president in 2024.
Pence stated that Republicans cannot win by fighting yesterdays battles at a meeting of GOP donors. He also condemned apologists to Russian President Vladimir Putin. These comments were seen as a repudiation of Trump who initially called the Russian leader's strategy for Ukraine "genius" as well as "savvy".
It was the comment about "fighting yesterday’s battles” that was more explicit. Trump is still fixated on his 2020 defeat. He promotes debunked claims that a stolen election and suggests that Pence could have prevented Biden's win on Jan. 6, 2021.
Pro-Trump rioters stormed Capitol on that day to delay the counting of Electoral College votes. They could be heard chanting "hang Mike Pence," which was the order of the count.
Pence rejected Trump’s claim that he could "overturn" the 2020 results last month and said: "The presidency belongs only to the American people."
"I heard this week that Donald Trump claimed I had the right overturn the election." Pence stated that President Trump is wrong in a speech he made to the Federalist Society in Orlando, Florida.
These remarks led Trump to declare that Pence was "an automatic conveyor belt to the Old Crow Mitch McConnell in order to get Biden elected President as soon as possible."
