US politics
Republican Pence withdraws presidential bid
Mike Pence ends his campaign for the White House. photo
© John Locher/AP/dpa
As a former vice president, Mike Pence was well known, but the Republican was not very popular. Now the presidential candidate is dropping out of the party’s internal race.
The former US Vice President Mike Pence no longer wants to be President of the United States. The Republican announced in Las Vegas that he would withdraw from the party’s internal race for the presidential nomination in next year’s election.
“This is not my time. After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to abandon my campaign for President as of today.”
The 64-year-old was far behind in polls and, according to media reports, had problems raising money for his campaign. “We always knew this would be a tough fight, but I have no regrets,” Pence told an audience that audibly responded with surprise at Pence’s announcement. He is leaving the election campaign, but will “never give up the fight for conservative values,” he promised.
Although the evangelical Christian was well known through his term as vice president, he still had to struggle with poor popularity ratings. He is the first widely known candidate to drop out of the race.
Trump far ahead of other candidates
The Republican field of candidates is led by former US President Donald Trump. Also in the running are Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. The party chooses its candidate in an internal party primary.
US President Joe Biden is running for re-election among the Democrats. As an incumbent, he has hardly had any serious competition in his party.
Pence entered the race in June and thereby challenged his former boss Trump. Pence was his deputy from 2017 to 2021. The two have a difficult relationship: For years, Pence acted as Trump’s loyal companion. But in the turmoil after the 2020 presidential election, the relationship between the two was permanently damaged.
Pence is tough on Trump
At the start of his presidential campaign, Pence attacked the former president harshly. Pence said he is calling on all of his fellow Republicans to select as the front-runner someone who will not only lead the party to victory but also lead the nation with decency. However, he did not make a public election recommendation for another candidate.
The other Republican presidential candidates also have to manage the difficult balancing act in the election campaign of not scaring off the Trump fans at the base and at the same time presenting themselves as a better alternative to the ex-president.
On the one hand, observers believe that Pence’s decision to drop out more than two months before the primaries will save him a lot of money. On the other hand, he should also be able to save face – and avoid the embarrassment of possibly not qualifying for the next Republican primary debate.
Pence is deeply religious and cultivates the image of a good public servant. He also supports a nationwide ban on abortion, which is very important to many conservatives, especially on the outer fringes. For Trump, the evangelical Christian covered this important group of voters at the time. With Pence no longer in the race, this group will have to look for a new candidate.