WASHINGTON (AFP) – Former US vice president Mike Pence said Friday he would not be endorsing Donald Trump as his old boss runs for a second term in the White House.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence said in an interview with Fox News.
US media called the announcement a “bombshell” and “startling,” although in reality deep divisions have driven the two men apart since leaving office, and an endorsement would have been a surprise.
The pair became estranged after Trump tried to pressure Pence to help him overturn his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden, repeatedly attacking him on social media when he wouldn’t go along with the scheme.
After various attempts by Trump and his allies to subvert the election results failed, the then-president directed a mob of his supporters to march on the Capitol, where they ransacked the building as some chanted “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence told Fox that Trump was “pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years.”
