Pence wished Trump would realize he was misled on Jan. 6.

Former Vice President Mike Pence: Trump Should Not Be Elected Again

Former Vice President Mike Pence expressed his disappointment in former President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6, stating that it disqualifies him from being elected again. Pence made these remarks during an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday morning. When asked if he would run in the 2024 presidential race if the Capitol riot had never occurred, Pence deferred to historians for speculation.

“I would leave that to historians to speculate on that,” Pence said. “I would tell you, at the end of the day, [Trump] did [ask me to violate my oath of office]. And I always hoped he’d come around on this.”

Pence is one of the few Republican presidential candidates who openly criticizes Trump. However, he currently polls at 5.3% in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.

While Pence did not directly address whether he would run in the absence of the Capitol riot, he made his thoughts on Trump clear.

“No one who puts himself over the constitution should ever be president of the United States,” he said. “And I had hoped that President Trump would eventually see that he had been misled by the so-called legal experts that had advised him, wrongly, about the role that he thought I had, and still thinks I had that day.”

Trump, who currently leads the 2024 GOP primary in polling, maintains that he won the 2020 election.

One of the major policy differences between Trump and Pence, as well as other GOP hopefuls like Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), is their stance on abortion. Trump has taken a more hands-off position on the issue following the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Pence also touched on this topic during his interview.

“We have other differences, other than that day,” Pence said. “It’s not just looking at the past, but it’s the direction of the country, the direction of the Republican Party in the future.”

Pence argued that the future of the Republican Party should include a firm pro-life stance.

“I’m pro-life, I don’t apologize for it,” Pence said, “but after leading the most pro-life administration in American history, now my former running mate has taken to calling some pro-life bills at the state level too harsh.”

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