The Story:
Former Vice President Mike Pence might run for President in 2024. His willingness to fuel speculation that he will do so is itself an important symptom of the serious split between Trumpist and non-Trumpist, even anti-Trumpist, elements within the Republican Party.
Background:
Donald Trump chose Pence, then Governor of Indiana, to be his running mate in 2016 largely because the choice gave the ticket credibility with Christian evangelical conservatives, a demographic to which Pence belongs.
In January 2021, Pence participated in the symbolic role of a Vice President by chairing a joint session of Congress to open envelopes and count the votes cast by members of the electoral college and certify the result of the Presidential election: in this instance, a victory for Biden and Harris. President Trump and his admirers believed then and many still believe that Pence should have used this position to effectively overturn the result and to send the election back to the states and their legislatures.
Pence believes he had no such option under the Constitution.
The Thing to Know:
The New Hampshire primary will be a critical test of strength should the Republican nomination for President be contested in 2024. One prominent New Hampshire Republican, Chris Ager, said recently: “More people are realizing that the vice president did his constitutional duty. I think the ardent Trump supporters who are very upset at that, and there are a number of them, that number I believe is shrinking.”
