Former US Vice President Mike Pence said he would not endorse presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, a rebuke to his former running mate. “During my presidential campaign I made clear that there were deep differences between President Trump and me on a variety of issues, and not just our difference over my constitutional duty that I exercised on January 6,” he told Fox News on Friday.
Pence challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year, but failed to win in the polls and withdrew before voting began. Pence, along with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, is one of the few primary rivals who have declined to endorse the former president.
As part of his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election, Trump pressured Pence to stop the certification of Electoral College ballots.
Pence argued that he did not have the authority to do so, leading rioters to chant “hang Mike Pence” as they stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The US House of Representatives select committee which investigated the insurrection reported that Trump expressed support for the mob’s violent chants about his then-vice president.
“Look, I’m incredibly proud of our administration’s record,” Pence said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, safer and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world,” he added.
Pence declined to say who he would support, adding that he would not vote for President Joe Biden.
