Ex-Vice President Pence enters White House race

Monday, 5 June 2023 19:45

By Reuters

Former US Vice President Mike Pence will seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to a filing on Monday with the Federal Election Commission.

The 63-year-old will launch his campaign with a video and a speech on Wednesday in the early nominating state of Iowa, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters last week.

Pence's run pits him against front-runner Donald Trump, whom he once loyally stood by but refused to back when the former president attempted to overturn the 2020 election results.

A staunch social conservative, former congressman and former governor of Indiana, Pence has increasingly distanced himself from Trump, saying the former president's encouragement of the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, put him and his family in danger.

Pence joins a growing field of Republican candidates, which includes Trump, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, US Senator Tim Scott and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is also planning to enter the race on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with Burgum's plans.

The number of candidates vying for the nomination concerns many Trump opponents inside the Republican Party who fear the anti-Trump vote could be split and hand the party's nomination to the former president.

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