Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to supporters as he formally announces his intention to seek the Republican nomination for president on 7 June 2023 in Ankeny, Iowa. Photo: SCOTT OLSON / AFP
By Max Matza for the BBC
Former US vice-president Mike Pence has offered his most forceful repudiation of Donald Trump to date during a speech launching his 2024 campaign.
The Republican accused Trump of being unfaithful to the US constitution and of abandoning conservative values.
The former Indiana governor and congressman formally commenced his White House campaign today.
The move pits him against his two-time running mate, who he served under in the White House from 2017-21.
At a speech in Ankeny, Iowa, Pence argued that Trump had encouraged the mob that attacked the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, and had incorrectly asserted that Pence had the power to overturn the election result.
"But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the constitution," he said.
"Now, voters will be faced with the same choice: I chose the constitution and I always will."
He added that Trump's actions on 6 January should disqualify him from returning to power.
"I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States," he said.
"And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again."
Pence, 64, also took shots at Democratic President Joe Biden as well, arguing that neither he nor Trump are similar to average Americans who know how to "treat each other with kindness and respect even when we disagree".
Much of his speech focused on his disagreements with Trump, but he also hit out at another Republican 2024 rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
"Donald Trump and others who would seek the presidency would walk away from our traditional role on the world stage," he said, hitting out at DeSantis for his recent remarks about the war in Ukraine.
The BBC found many Republican voters were split on whom they will support in 2024 when it visited Iowa last weekend.
Mike Pence is the first vice-president to run against his former boss since 1940. Photo: AFP / Getty Images
One former Trump voter, Todd Wilson, said he "felt terrible about how Trump threw [Pence] under the bus on 6 January".
"I lost a lot of respect for Trump when he did that," he added.
Bill Dunson said that he prefers Trump or DeSantis, but would also support Pence.
"Trump's pretty, pretty hardcore when he does what he says he's going to do and that's why I like him. But I think Pence would give me a good pick too."
Amy Wyss says that after previously voting for Trump twice, she plans to back DeSantis this time around.
After seeing DeSantis speak there, she said she "left feeling hopeful and calm and content for the first time in a long time about the future of the country".
Pence, a Christian conservative, is joining an increasingly crowded Republican field for the 2024 nomination.
On Tuesday, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie launched a bid. On Wednesday, North Governor Doug Burgum also announced that he was entering the race.
It is very rare for a former vice-president to directly challenge an ex-boss for the White House.
According to a Reuters-Ipsos survey released last month, Pence is polling at 5 percent, compared to 44 percent for Trump.
Pence was seen as an unswervingly loyal deputy to Trump through much of their four years in office.
But he has distanced himself since the riot at the US Capitol.
Trump pressured Pence to overturn Joe Biden's election victory when he presided over the certification of results in Congress and admonished him for lacking "courage" when he refused.
Some rioters were heard chanting "hang Mike Pence" as they stormed the halls of Congress, and many Trump loyalists view him as a traitor.
- BBC
