Pence will not support Trump if he becomes a candidate

Former Vice President Mike Pence still won’t say if he’ll run for president next year, and won’t speak ill of his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump. But in an interview with CBS News in Michigan on Wednesday, he also twice declined to support Trump if he was the Republican presidential nominee.

Instead, Pence said he believes voters in 2024 will “make wise choices again” as they did in 2016. But he said he thought “different times call for different leadership.”

“I am very confident that we will have a better choice by 2024,” he told CBS News political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns. “And I’m sure our flag bearer will win in November of that year.”

But if Pence is indeed running, he is offering a vision of Trump-era conservative principles and politics — without the Trump-era personality. The former vice president said his message in a speech to young voters in Michigan on Wednesday was “resist the temptation to focus on personalities or embrace populism that is not tied to conservative principles.”

“You know, I joined the Republican Party during the time of Ronald Reagan and I really believe that the conservative movement has always been inspired by ideas,” Pence said. “We had famous people, from Reagan to Donald Trump. But I think it’s the ideas – the commitment to a strong national defense, fiscal responsibility, limited government, and traditional values ​​- that really created this movement in many countries. ways, and I think they still support it.”

Pence recently said he would make a decision on whether to run “this spring,” which is only a few weeks away. Pence said Wednesday that he and his wife Karen will continue to listen to the American people and should have a clear idea about whether he should run this spring.

Pence told CBS News that he and Karen “continue to prayerfully consider entering the race.”

Asked if he wants to reflect “the pre-Trump Republican Party,” Pence said he wants to be true to his calling in public life and will avoid any campaign that focuses entirely on the negative.

“Traveling around the country, I have heard over and over again that people are looking at the track record of the Trump-Pence administration. They want to return to our strong defense policy, American leadership of the world, vibrant market economies, secure borders, and conservative judges. But I also heard that they want us to return to the civility in politics that the American people show each other every day.”

Pence, who was asked if rights reform would be a key element of his platform, outlined what Pence’s platform could look like.

“My wife and I continue to prayerfully consider entering the race for the Republican presidential nomination,” Pence said. “But I can assure you that if we decide to run, we will bring in that broad conservative agenda that has characterized my life and my career before. It means a strong national defense, it means standing up for America’s place as the leader of the free world. … Confronting aggression, whether in Eastern Europe or in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“But yes, it also means advancing policies that will make the economy grow again, as well as advancing policies that will put our national budget on a sustainable path,” he continued. “I have to say that the American people have shown the ability to do difficult things. But it was only in those periods of our history when we had leaders who were willing to be frank with the American people. Tell them what the real problems are. what are the solutions. And if I am called to this competition, I will say just that.

The former vice president also defended his decision to challenge the subpoena from the special counsel overseeing an investigation into attempts by Trump and his allies to change the results of the 2020 presidential election. Pence’s team argues that forcing a former vice president to testify in a case is unconstitutional, though some legal scholars disagree.

“The idea of ​​having a former vice president appear in court to testify against the president they served with is unprecedented, but I also find it unconstitutional,” Pence said, adding that he is “limited in what I can say about these proceedings. “

The former vice president also declined to criticize other potential or announced candidates, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But he disagreed with former Gov. Nikki Haley’s position that there should be a competency test for politicians over 75.

“I come from southern Indiana, where people think most politicians should take a competency test,” Pence joked.

“No, I think the Americans can sort this out. I really can,” he added.

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