The American conservative will thus challenge his former boss in the Republican primaries to be held on November 5, 2024.
It’s official. Mike Pence, former vice-president of the United States, filed his candidacy for the White House on Monday June 5, according to documents published by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). He will thus challenge his former boss, Donald Trump, in the Republican primaries, which will be held on November 5, 2024. The conservative joins an already busy arena of Republican candidates, with a dozen contenders who, for the time being, are all largely trailed in the polls by the billionaire.
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Evangelical Christian, fierce opponent of abortion, Mike Pence had helped Donald Trump conquer the religious right by being his running mate during the 2016 presidential campaign. After years of unwavering loyalty, he changed his tone following the assault on the Capitol, which rocked American democracy on January 6, 2021.
A ‘traitor’ to Trump supporters
That day, Mike Pence led, as vice president, the session in Congress, during which the elected officials had to certify the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election of 2020. Although he only has a role formal, Donald Trump had insisted that he refuse to validate the election of the Democrat. The former governor of Indiana did not comply, which earned him strong enmity among the billionaire’s supporters. Having entered the Capitol by force, some had called for “hang” Mike Pence, who had to hide in a hurry. He has since ruled that the president’s words were “irresponsible” and had it “put in danger”.
This split between the two men jeopardizes the chances of Mike Pence, whom many activists loyal to Donald Trump continue to consider a “traitor”. The man caps around 3.8% of voting intentions, far behind the former president (53.2%), according to the average of the latest polls carried out by the RealClearPolitics site.
He is also outdistanced by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis (22.4%), who is also betting on a very conservative speech but on a more offensive tone. He is also trailed by a hair’s breadth by former UN ambassador Nikki Haley (4.4%).
However, he has been preparing his candidacy for months. After releasing a book entitled “So Help Me God” (“May God help me”, untranslated), the former radio host traveled the country, multiplying the speeches in States likely to make a difference. in the Republican primaries.