The eighth time is a charm? Pence edges closer to 2024 presidential announcement with another visit to Iowa as he flirts with his former running mate Trump
- Former Vice President Mike Pence will make his eighth trip to Iowa on Wednesday since leaving the White House
- He is flirting with the opportunity to launch a presidential campaign against his former running mate, former President Donald Trump
- Pence condemned Trump’s role on Jan. 6, but called Trump’s possible indictment in Manhattan ‘politically charged’
Former Vice President Mike Pence will make his eighth trip to Iowa on Wednesday as he flirts with launching a presidential bid against his former vice presidential commissioner, former President Donald Trump.
Pence hosts breakfasts, lunches and dinners with Republican groups in Urbandale, near Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and then Coralville, located just outside of Iowa City. He’ll do a “fireside chat” and book signing, as well as a Reagan-themed dinner party.
Iowa will continue to host the nation’s first Republican presidential caucus, though Democrats have revamped their primaries, and that will happen early next year.
The former vice president’s trip to Hawkeye State comes as all eyes are on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and whether the grand jury he convened in New York accuses Trump of a crime related to the 2016 cash payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Pence criticized the potential charges, telling ABC’s Jonathan Karl that the prosecutor’s actions are “politically charged” and “not what the American people want to see.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence will make his eighth trip to Iowa on Wednesday as he flirts with launching a presidential bid against his former running mate, former President Donald Trump
Trump launched his 2024 campaign in mid-November and is pictured at his rally in Waco, Texas on Saturday
At the same time, Pence denounced Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack before an elite DC audience earlier this month.
“President Trump was wrong. I had no right to void the election, and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone on Capitol Hill that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable,’ said Pence at the Gridiron dinner, attended by a who’s who from Washington, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the President’s special climate envoy John Kerry, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Trump and Pence have fallen out over the ex-president’s decision to falsely claim that widespread voter fraud cost him a second term.
Trump pushed Pence to reject swing-state Electoral College votes that President Joe Biden won while presiding over the joint session of Congress on January 6.
Trump is also in legal hot water on Jan. 6, with Special Counsel Jack Smith overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into the matter.
Smith is also in charge of the case relating to Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left office.
Some classified documents were also found at Pence’s home in Indiana.
HAPPIER TIMES: Trump (left) points the finger at Pence (right) at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in 2016 after choosing the Indiana governor as his ticket mate
If Pence enters the race, he will make a major catch-up as he is significantly behind Trump — as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — in national polls and early state polls.
The Real Clear Politics polling average of national surveys has Pence at 6.2%.
Meanwhile, Trump is at 44.3% and DeSantis at 29.2%.
Trump announced a 2024 bid in mid-November, while DeSantis has yet to launch a campaign.
Other Republicans who are already officially in the race include the former United Nations ambassador. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
A poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and reported by Axios on Sunday found that Trump, DeSantis and Haley had higher favors than Pence in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will hold the nation’s first GOP primary in 2024.
In Iowa, 59% of GOP primary voters had a favorable opinion of the former vice president. However, 60% said the same of Haley, 74 said the same of Trump, and 81% said the same of DeSantis.
