By Alexandra Ulmer and Tim Reid
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President has officially ended his presidential campaign on Saturday, citing financial difficulties. Pence had been striving for months to persuade Republican voters that he was a superior choice to the man he once served, .
“To the American people I say: This is not my time,” Pence announced during the Republican Jewish Coalition donor conference in Las Vegas.
Pence, now 64 years old, openly criticized Trump for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. Pence hoped that Republican primary voters would appreciate him for upholding the U.S. Constitution instead of following Trump’s orders to overturn the 2020 election results.
However, Trump’s devoted followers never forgave Pence for overseeing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election, viewing it as an act of disloyalty to Trump. Trump, who is currently leading the race for the Republican nomination by a substantial margin, has convinced a majority of Republican voters that the 2020 election was stolen from him and has made persistent efforts to overturn the result.
In his speech on Saturday, Pence refrained from endorsing any specific candidate, but he indirectly criticized Trump by urging Americans to choose a leader who embodies “the better angels of our nature” and can lead with “civility.”
Pence struggled to attract enough anti-Trump Republican primary voters and donors to sustain his presidential campaign. Despite spending considerable time and resources in Iowa, the first Republican nominating state, Pence failed to gain traction there.
By October, Pence’s campaign was running low on funds, facing a debt of $620,000 and only having $1.2 million in cash. This amount was significantly less than what several other Republican competitors had and was insufficient for the financial demands of a White House race.
In the past, former vice presidents have succeeded in becoming White House nominees, such as Republican George H.W. Bush in 1988 and Democrat Al Gore in 2000.
However, this year, Pence faced the formidable political force that is Trump, as well as other contenders who appealed more to anti-Trump primary voters and donors, such as former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Pence positioned himself as a traditional conservative, emphasizing social and fiscal values, and advocating for increased military aid to Ukraine and cuts in welfare entitlement spending. However, this type of Republicanism has been overshadowed in the Trump era by populism and “America First” isolationism.
(Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by David Gregorio)
