(Las Vegas) Former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence announced on Saturday that he was withdrawing his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential election.
“I came to tell you that it has become clear to me: it is not my time,” declared Mike Pence, addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) meeting at a convention in Las Vegas, in the Nevada.
“After careful consideration and prayer, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president,” he said.
Candidate Pence, who was struggling in the polls with some 3.8% of voting intentions according to the specialized site fivethirtyeight.com, had little chance against his former boss Donald Trump, who is the big favorite of the Republican primaries, despite his legal setbacks.
He did not give any instructions aimed at supporting this or that other candidate during this address which took his audience completely by surprise.
The eight main candidates for the Republican Party nomination are all scheduled to speak at this weekend rally, including Donald Trump, who is leading the polls, and his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
After years of unwavering loyalty to Donald Trump, his former vice-president changed his tone after the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
And this evangelical Christian, fierce opponent of abortion, had even decided to challenge his former boss during the 2024 Republican primaries, but his chances very quickly appeared reduced.
Activists loyal to the former president consider him a “traitor” because he certified Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election to Congress.