LAS VEGAS, NV. – Former Vice President Mike Pence announced Saturday that he is suspending his 2024 Republican presidential campaign.
“I come here to say that it has become clear to me that this is not my time,” Pence said in his surprise announcement at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) convention.
“So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.”
The former vice president has not endorsed any of the other candidates for the 2024 GOP nomination.
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Pence is dropping his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House. He said in Las Vegas that “after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.” (AP Photo/John Locher)
The former vice president launched his 2024 campaign in early June. Although he spent much of the summer and fall on the campaign trail in the key early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, his White House bid never got off the ground.
Pence is standing in the mid to low single digits in the latest surveys and his fundraising is meager. The former vice president struggled – but ultimately managed to meet the poll and donor thresholds to qualify for the first two Republican presidential nomination debates. But on Saturday, he still fell short of meeting the criteria to take the stage at next month’s third debate.
Sources in Pence’s political orbit tell Fox News that the final decision to drop out of the race came in part after recent fundraising failed to ease concerns about reaching the donor threshold to qualify for at the November 8 debate in Miami.
“You know, we always knew it was going to be a tough fight, but I have no regrets. The only thing that would have been tougher than failing is if we hadn’t tried,” Pence told the crowd at the annual leadership meeting. of the RJC in Las Vegas, Nevada, as he announced the suspension of his White House bid.
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Pence told the crowd, to cheers and cheers, that “I say this is not my time, but it’s still your time. I’m proud that our campaign stood up for America’s role as the leader of the free world.”
And Pence made a final plea for the GOP to return to its conservative roots and fight what he repeatedly called the “siren song of populism” in a Republican Party that has been dramatically transformed by his two running mates — former President Donald Trump.
RJC chief executive officer Matt Brooks told Fox News that “from his time in Congress to his time as governor to his time as vice president, Mike Pence has been a steadfast friend and a critical ally in defense of Israel and in defense of the Jewish community. in the fight against anti-Semitism.”
“He’s always answered the call, and he’s always been an incredible friend and I think that’s reflected in the response he’s gotten from the audience,” Brooks emphasized.
Pence formally announced his run for president in Ankeny, Iowa, on June 7, 2023. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Trump – the leading front-runner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight run at the White House – and all of his top rivals in 2024 appeared at the RJC leadership meeting.
Trump — who spoke about 25 minutes after Pence — made no mention of the news of his former running mate’s withdrawal from the 2024 race.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking directly after the former vice president, also did not address Pence’s breaking news.
In a statement hours later, DeSantis said Pence “was a principled man of faith who worked tirelessly to advance the conservative cause.”
But the next speaker after DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, began her speech by praising Pence.
“I want to say a special point first to Vice President Mike Pence. He has been a good man of faith. He has been a good man of service. He fought for America, and he fought for Israel. And we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” Haley said to applause from the crowd.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina spoke earlier at the RJC confab. But after Pence suspended his campaign, Scott said in a statement that “the Vice President has been a prayer partner, a friend, and a man of integrity and deep conviction. The Republican Party is stronger today because of his leadership by Mike.”
Pence, a former conservative congressman, was governor of Indiana when Trump named him his running mate in 2016. For four years, Pence served as Trump’s loyal vice president.
However, everything changed on Jan. 6, 2021, as right-wing extremists — including some shouting “hang Mike Pence” — stormed the US Capitol seeking to revoke congressional certification of President Biden’s victory in the Electoral College overseen by Pence.
In the more than two years since the end of the Trump administration, the former president and vice president have grown increasingly distant. Pence rebuked his former boss, calling him names while discussing Trump’s claim that Pence may have overturned the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Pence described the deadly attack on the Capitol as a “tragedy” and that it “dishonored the millions of people who supported our cause across the country.” He emphasized that he did the “right thing” and fulfilled his “duty under the Constitution.” He has also mentioned several times that he and Trump may never “see eye to eye that day.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who suspended his 2024 Republican presidential campaign on Oct. 28, filed his name in New Hampshire’s GOP presidential primary, at the Statehouse in Concord, NH, on Oct. 13, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But hardcore Trump loyalists have not forgiven Pence, whom they consider a traitor for refusing to reject the results of the 2020 election.
Pence became the first running mate in eight decades to run against his former boss. Then-Vice President John Nance Garner was the last to try it, but he unsuccessfully challenged President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 election.
Pence, in his speeches on the stump, touted the policy achievements of the Trump-Pence administration but compared himself to the controversial former president in terms of tone and tenor.
“People across the country want to see us restore a threshold of civility in our political debate,” Pence said. “You can disagree without agreeing. People who know me know I’m very opinionated. I’m conservative, but I’m not bad about it.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who also addressed the audience at the RJC conference on Saturday before Pence, said in a statement that I am very grateful for all that Vice President Mike Pence has done for this country. He has consistently fought for American values from his time in Congress to his governorship and service to the American people as Vice President.”
“Mike Pence stood up for the constitution of the United States. He deserves our gratitude as Americans for putting his oath of office and the Constitution of the United States before personal and political pressure,” Christie emphasized. .
Pence two weeks ago hinted at his campaign’s struggles.
“It may become apparent in the next few days that other campaigns have more money than we do. But it’s not about the money. It’s about the votes,” Pence said on Oct. 13 as he filed to put his name on New Hampshire’s first-in-the-primary presidential ballot.
“We will do what we can to marshal our resources,” Pence said. But he acknowledged that “.we probably need to be more selective in where we invest resources.”
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Pence became the first major Republican presidential contender to drop out of the 2024 GOP nomination race.
Four unknown candidates who all failed to qualify for the debates have suspended their campaigns.
There is the former CIA agent and former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, Florida, business leader and quality control expert Perry Johnson, and 2021 California gubernatorial recall election candidate and former conservative talk radio host Larry Elder.
Kellianne Jones and James Levinson of Fox News contributed to this report
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