Former US Vice President Mike Pence arrives to speak at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, October 28, 2023.
Steve Marcus | Reuters
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he will not endorse his former boss for president in the 2024 election.
Pence revealed the decision during an interview on Fox News. “I will not support Donald Trump this year,” the Republican said.
Pence's announcement came as Trump secured enough Republican delegates this week to win the party's nomination.
Pence said Trump “is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is inconsistent with the conservative agenda by which we have governed during our four years.”
“As I watched his nomination, I saw him backing away from our commitment to confronting the national debt,” Pence said. “I saw him begin to be ashamed of his commitment to the sanctity of human life.”
Pence also signaled that Trump was backing away from taking a tough stance on China and supporting our administration's efforts to force a sale. [ByteDance’s] Tik Tok.”
Trump recently reversed his long-standing position on whether TikTok should be allowed to continue operating in the United States under the ownership of China-based ByteDance.
Pence launched his presidential bid against Trump and a crowded field of Republican candidates, but withdrew in October 2023 after his campaign failed to attract GOP primary voters.
Pence added on Friday that he would “never vote” for Democratic President Joe Biden, who also received his party's nomination in the March 12 primary.
“I will keep my vote for myself,” Pence said.
Pence served as President Trump's vice president for his only term, from January 2017 until January 2021.
On January 6, 2021, Pence and congressional lawmakers were forced to flee the Senate and House of Representatives when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol complex.
Trump had urged his followers that morning to march to the Capitol and protest the certification of Biden's 2020 election victory over him.
While the mob breached the Capitol's security fence and attacked law enforcement, Pence was inside presiding over a joint session of Congress convening to certify the Electoral College votes.
– CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this story.
