Former Vice President Mike Pence is a significant figure in the third indictment of former President Donald Trump, and his involvement in the charge is unlikely to benefit his chances in the 2024 Republican primary.
Pence testified before the grand jury regarding the former president’s alleged involvement on Jan. 6 and alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. He is mentioned multiple times in the indictment, and his private notes are used as evidence against Trump. Republican consultants are concerned about the lack of momentum in Pence’s primary campaign.
A GOP consultant, Mark Weaver, said Pence has had difficulty adjusting to the modern version of presidential politics. He does not align with the current desires of most Republicans, and his contributions to the country are in the past. Mike McKenna, a Republican consultant and president of MWR Strategies, agreed with Weaver’s statement and shared that Pence’s campaign had been struggling for a considerable time.
Pence defended his role in certifying the 2020 election and criticized Trump’s alleged involvement on Jan. 6. He informed Fox News’ Martha MacCallum that Trump and his lawyers asked him to reject votes during the certification process in the Senate. Special Counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on Tuesday for Conspiracy to defraud the United States, to obstruct and impede the January 6 proceedings corruptly, and A conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.
The RealClearPolitics average for a 2024 national Republican primary indicates Trump has 53.9% support, and Pence is way back in the pack at 4.4%. With a substantial advantage, Trump is currently leading in the polls for the early primary states. Conversely, Pence has 2% support in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada and 4% in South Carolina.
A GOP polling analyst and North Star Opinion Research vice president, John Feehery, mentioned that Pence faced a challenging position during the primary. He is seen as too aligned with Trump by those who oppose him and, ironically, as a betrayer by Trump’s supporters. There is a theoretical potential for him to be the leading non-Trump candidate, but he lacks Chris Christie’s showmanship or Will Hurd’s fire.
Pence is too vanilla, lacks spice, and blends into the scenery.
