Mike Pence tears into Donald Trump at 2024 campaign launch
Former US vice-president Mike Pence, once the closest man to Donald Trump, delivered his strongest criticism of the former president to date.
During the launch of his 2024 campaign, Pence accused Trump of betraying the principles of the US Constitution and abandoning conservative values.
Pence officially kicked off his White House campaign on Wednesday, placing himself in opposition to his former running mate, who he served as VP in the White House from 2017 to 2021.
Speaking in Ankeny, Iowa, Pence said Trump had played a role in inciting the mob that attacked the US capitol on January 6, 2021, and falsely claimed the then vice president Mike Pence had the authority to overturn the election outcome.
“But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution,” he said.
“Now, voters will be faced with the same choice: I chose the constitution and I always will.”
He said Trump’s action on that day should stop him from returning to the top job.
“I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States,” he said. “And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.”