Mike Pence just officially filed to run for president in 2024, challenging Trump after dramatic January 6 fallout
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- Former Vice President Mike Pence is runnning for president.
- He'll announce his run in Iowa on his 64th birthday.
- Pence was loyal to Trump during most of his presidency, but stood up to him on January 6.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is officially taking on his former boss for the 2024 nomination for president.
Pence's campaign filed paperwork on Monday with the Federal Elections Commission. He'll be holding a kickoff rally at Des Moines Area Community College in the first state to caucus, Iowa, on Wednesday — which is also his 64th birthday — and is later set to appear at a CNN town hall.
By entering the race, Pence will officially challenge former President Donald Trump — a man he publicly stood by throughout his presidency, right up until Trump pressured him to subvert Joe Biden's 2020 election win. Some Trump supporters yelled, "Hang Mike Pence" as they attacked the Capitol.
Pence's bid is considered a long shot, given that he polls just under 4% in the RealClearPolitics polling average. He'll also be in the race among numerous other candidates, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis being the only other Republican with a double-digit polling average.
In all, 12 people will officially seek nomination for president on the GOP ticket by the end of this week. Other than Trump and DeSantis, the 2024 candidates for the GOP nomination include former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, radio host Larry Elder, pastor Ryan Binkley, and businessman Perry Johnson.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will announce his run on Tuesday, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is making a run official the same day as Pence.
Trump continues to be the frontrunner despite two impeachments, inciting the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, being found guilty of sexual assault in a civil case, and becoming the first president in history to be indicted.
Pence is already well known after his time as vice president, though a presidential run would allow him the opportunity to re-introduce himself to voters and to showcase areas in which he disagrees with Trump.
He previously served in the US House and then as governor of Indiana. He often tells audiences he's "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican — in that order."
An adviser to Pence previously told Insider that his team discussed several policy areas with which to contrast himself, including Trump's bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, the First Step Act, and said he'd continue to be "very outspoken on the issue of life."
Trump nominated three Supreme Court justices during his presidency that were deciding voter in overturning Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a national right to abortion. However, since announcing his 2024 candidacy, he has not committed to backing a specific federal abortion restriction.
Pence's entry into the race could also give Trump an opening to shift some blame for the COVID-19 pandemic onto his former deputy. DeSantis has criticized Trump's response to the pandemic, though Trump handed the reins of the response to Pence during his tenure.
Pence was deeply involved in the Trump administration, with his fingerprints especially visible on healthcare policy and on defending religious groups. Two former Indiana officials, Alex Azar and Seema Verma, were from Indiana.
Pence's vision for the future of the GOP is laid out in his Freedom Agenda. The policies include reducing mail-in voting and implementing universal school choice, which allows public education funds to pay for K-12 students to select alternatives to public schools.
Many of these policies are similar to what other entrants in the race support, though Pence has come out against DeSantis for trying to take away power from Walt Disney World, even though he agreed with a schools bill at the center of the dispute that limited how and when LGBTQ topics are taught in Florida.
When Pence was governor of Indiana he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, which some critics said would give businesses a "license to discriminate" against gays and lesbians. Facing backlash, Pence called lawmakers back to Indianapolis to clarify the intent of the law.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/fy2Kndp
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