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| Image Source: Al-Jazeera |
The Republican leader struggled to raise money and win elections after ending his campaign for the White House.
Former Vice
President Mike Pence dropped his bid for the Republican presidential nomination
on Saturday, ending his campaign for the White House as he struggles to raise
money and win elections. had been.
"It's
become clear to me: This is not my time," Pence said at the annual
gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Las Vegas.
"So after
much prayer and consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for
president effective today."
"We always
knew it would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets," Pence told the
friendly audience, which reacted with audible surprise to the announcement and
received several standing ovations. Applauded.
Pence is the
first major candidate to drop out of a race dominated by his former
boss-turned-rival Donald Trump, and his struggles underscore how much Trump has
changed the party. A former vice president would normally be seen as a strong
challenger in any primary, but Pence has struggled to find a base of support.
It was unclear
whether, if any, the candidates would benefit from his departure, given Pence's
limited support. But those hoping the former president would move the party
forward welcomed the news as a step toward consolidating around an alternative
to Trump.
Pence did not
endorse any of his rivals on Saturday but continued to echo the language he
used to criticize Trump.
"I urge
all my fellow Republicans here to give our country a Republican standard that
will, as Lincoln said, appeal to the better angels of our nature," he
said, "and not just win us over." lead to, but rather guide our
nation. A civilized return to the principles that have always made America
strong and prosperous and free.
Trump, who
spoke shortly after Pence at the RJC event, did not acknowledge his former vice
president's announcement on stage, but said at a separate event in Las Vegas on
Saturday night that he believed Pence would support him. are bound.
"He should
endorse me. I elected him, made him vice president. But in politics, people can
be very disloyal," he said.
A huge blow
Pence's
decision, two months before the Iowa caucuses on which he staked his campaign,
protects him from accumulating additional debt, as well as qualifying for the
third Republican primary debate on Nov. 8 in Miami. Also the shame of possibly
failing to do so.
The Republican
leader ended September with just $1.18 million in the bank and $621,000 in
debt, according to his most recent campaign filing. The debt grew in the weeks
that followed and could have taken years for Pence, who is not independently
wealthy, to pay it off.
His resignation
is a major blow for a politician who spent years serving as one of Trump's most
loyal lieutenants, only to be made a scapegoat in his final days in office when
Trump believes Gone is that Pence somehow has the power to overturn the results
of the 2020 election. Keep both men in office - which he didn't.
While Pence
averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting the scheme, it drew the ire of
Trump as well as many of Trump's supporters, who still believed his lies about
the election and called Pence a traitor. Seen as
Meanwhile,
among Trump's critics, Pence was seen as a stalwart who defended the former
president at every turn and refused to criticize Trump's most indefensible
actions.
As a result, an
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from August found
that a majority of American adults, 57 percent, view Pence unfavorably,
compared to just 28 percent.
Republican
leaders were betting on Iowa, a state with a large white evangelical
population, to elevate religiously and socially conservative candidates such as
former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum. It
has a long history.
He often
campaigned with his wife, Karen, a Christian school teacher, and emphasized his
hard-line views on issues such as abortion, which he opposes even in cases
where the pregnancy is not viable. . He has repeatedly called on his fellow
candidates to support a national ban of at least 15 weeks and has pushed for a
ban on drugs used as alternatives to surgical procedures.
But the former
U.S. vice president struggled to gain ground in Iowa as well.
(Courtesy: Al-Jazeera)
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