Former Vice President Mike Pence is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign: 'This is not my time'
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
- Former Vice President Mike Pence announced he would suspend his presidential run.
- "This is not my time," Pence said during his remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit.
- Pence failed to gain traction in the GOP primary as he went up against his ex-boss, Donald Trump.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has suspended his presidential campaign, he said on Saturday.
Pence made the announcement while speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit in Las Vegas, where he spoke forcefully for the United States to continue its strong alliance with Israel while stating that his own 2024 White House would be coming to a close.
"The Bible tells us that there's a time for every purpose under heaven," he told attendees. "Traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me: This is not my time. So, after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today."
"Now I'm leaving this campaign, but let me promise you, I will never leave the fight for conservative values, and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land," he continued.
Pence, who served as vice president under President Donald Trump, launched his campaign by seeking to appeal to evangelical voters. But he struggled to gain traction in the 2024 Republican primary, continuing to linger in the shadow of his onetime boss.
Today's announcement likely would have been unthinkable in a pre-Trump Republican Party.
Pence, a former congressman and ex-Indiana governor, had long been highly popular with social conservatives, a linchpin of the party. The former vice president's credibility with conservatives led Trump to tap him as his running mate in 2016, as some Republicans were at the time still unsure of the then-GOP nominee's commitment to the issue of abortion.
With Pence on the 2016 ticket, it bolstered Trump's standing among the party faithful, but it was Trump who would soon eclipse his No. 2 in terms of influence within the party.
While Pence was a loyal foot soldier for Trump during their term in office, his relationship with the then-president faltered after certifying now-President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.
On January 6, 2021, Pence was shuttled to a secure location within the US Capitol complex as rioters looking to block Biden's certification stormed the building. Some protesters even chanted: "Hang Mike Pence."
But Pence returned to his post as vice president and certified Biden's win.
Since then, Trump has continued to baselessly claim that the election was stolen.
Meanwhile, Pence's standing among the party base disintegrated, not because of his lack of conservatism but because of Trump's enduring influence over the party.
Pence sought to boost his campaign in Iowa, which would normally have been a natural fit for his candidacy, but Trump has continued to dominate the GOP race there, which left the former vice president without a base of support.
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