Mike Pence won’t endorse Donald Trump, deepening split between former running mates

The former vice president’s pronouncement that Trump’s agenda ‘is at odds with ours’ illustrates a sharpening division within the Republican Party.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday he wouldn’t endorse Donald Trump for president, saying the presumptive GOP nominee is “pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years.” Pence’s pronouncement deepened the already sharp split between the men following the former vice president’s refusal to go along with a plan to disrupt the certification of the 2020 election results. It also illustrates the continued division within the Republican Party even as Trump further completes an ideological and stylistic takeover.

Pence ran for the 2024 GOP nomination, but never gained traction and dropped out in October as Trump rolled over a field of more than a dozen candidates. This week, Trump won enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee.

Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Pence, who served as a bridge for Trump with evangelical voters in 2016, said during a Fox News interview Friday afternoon that he was proud of the Trump administration record.

But he said the differences go beyond Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

“As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I have seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt,” Pence said. “I have seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life, and, this last week, his reversal on getting tough on China and supporting our administration’s effort to force a sale of ByteDance TikTok application.” Pence appeared to be referring to Trump’s stance on leaving Social Security and Medicare alone – though in a recent CNBC interview he talked about cuts, fuelling Democratic attacks – and his refusal to take a clear stance on abortion limits. Trump as president moved to implement a TikTok ban but recently reversed that position.

“In each of these cases, Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence said. “And that’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.” Asked whether he would vote for President Biden in November, Pence said he would never do that. He also ruled out running on a third-party ticket, saying: “I’m a Republican.” Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who went the farthest against Trump in the primaries, also hasn’t endorsed Trump, though she hasn’t ruled out doing so.

Dow Jones