Former VP Mike Pence launches White House bid: ‘I’m running for President of the United States’

Donald Trump’s former VP Mike Pence has launched his presidential campaign by taking several swipes at his old boss, with the pair now competing for the Republican nomination.

Donald Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence has formally launched his 2024 White House candidacy, with the pair set to battle it out for the Republican nomination.

“I’m announcing that I’m running for President of the United States of America,” Mr Pence said on Wednesday.

“We must resolve that Joe Biden will never be re-elected as President of the US.

“We must elect a new Republican president.”

Mr Pence, 63, launched his presidential campaign with a speech in Iowa, the midwestern state that traditionally kicks off the primary season.

The 76-year-old Mr Trump announced in November that he was making a third bid for the White House and is the clear frontrunner in an increasingly crowded field seeking the Republican nomination.

Former US Vice President and 2024 Presidential hopeful Mike Pence. Picture: AFP.

Mr Pence’s presidential bid places him in a unique position as he becomes the first vice president in modern history to challenge his old boss. Though a loyal second-in-command to Mr Trump, Mr Pence fell out of favour with him when he refused to overturn the 2020 election results.

After years of unwavering loyalty to Mr Trump, Mr Pence was shocked into a change of tack when a mob of Trump supporters threatened his life as they ransacked Congress on January 6, 2021.

“On that day, Mr Trump demanded I choose between him and the constitution and I chose the constitution - and I always will, ” Mr Pence said of the infamous Capitol riots during his presidential campaign launch.

“I had no right to overturn the election.”

Former US Vice President Mike Pence (R), with his wife Karen Pence, at his presidential campaign launch event at the Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa. Picture: AFP.

Mr Pence said “President Trump was wrong then and he's wrong now”.

“I hoped he’d come around and see that he’d been misled about my role that day but that was not to be,” he continued.

“I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States.

“And anyone who asks someone else to put them before the constitution should never be president again.”

Former US Vice President Mike Pence is set to contest the Republican candidacy. Picture: AFP/Getty

Mr Pence, an evangelical Christian and staunch opponent of abortion, has been crisscrossing the country in recent months, speaking in many of the states seen as the most consequential in the Republican nomination race.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 44, jumped into the contest last month and another high-profile Republican, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, a one-time Trump ally who helped him prepare for the 2020 debates, announced his candidacy on Tuesday with a sharp anti-Trump message..

Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s first ambassador to the United Nations, is also seeking the Republican nomination, along with South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.

Mr DeSantis, long viewed as the most formidable challenger to twice-impeached Trump, has distanced himself from his erstwhile mentor while doubling down on Trump’s populist “America First” agenda.

Mr Christie was a former close associate of Trump but has been sharply critical of the former president over the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol and his refusal to concede the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

TRUMP TURNS ON FORMER PRESS SECRETARY

Former US President Donald Trump has slammed his one-time White House press secretary and longtime supporter, Kayleigh McEnany, accusing her of inflating poll numbers for his key Republican rival and telling the TV host’s employer to use “REAL stars”.

“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social after Ms McEnany appeared on Jesse Watters’ Fox News show on Tuesday.

Milktoast appeared to be a misspelling of “milquetoast,” a term for a timid or meek person.

“I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up,” he added, using his nickname for Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is running against him for the Republican nomination for president.

“While 25 is great, it’s not 34.”

Ms McEnany, now a co-host on Fox’s Outnumbered, had highlighted ever-changing polling numbers to reflect how “the DeSantis team would say we’ve just had polling come out that shows we’ve closed the gap by nine points” in Iowa.

“Still, Trump’s hugely ahead,” she said.

“If you look at polling it was Trump 34 in Iowa and it’s now 25. That’s double-digits.”

Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was Mr Trump’s top spokesperson during his presidency. Picture: AFP.

Then-US President Donald Trump and White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC in September 2020. Picture: AFP.

Ms McEnany stressed that any suggestion Mr DeSantis was creeping up on Mr Trump is “just their argument”.

But Mr Trump insisted that Ms McEnany had misreported the size of the margin of a poll showing him ahead in the 2024 Republican presidential race.

“She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS (Republican in Name Only) & Globalists can have her,” Mr Trump added before making a final dig at his once-favoured adviser, who was also his press secretary for his failed 2020 re-election campaign.

“FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!” he wrote.

Ms McEnany has not commented publicly on Mr Trump’s attack.

In her time at the White House, she was an outspoken defender of Mr Trump, including during his protest of the 2020 election.

– With AFP

Originally published as Former VP Mike Pence launches White House bid: ‘I’m running for President of the United States’