PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke to Local 10 Senior Political Reporter Michael Putney to promote his new memoir Tuesday and made it clear that he thinks another candidate, possibly himself, would be a better Republican nominee for president in 2024 than former President Trump.
“I trust the American people, Republican primary voters will will sort that out,” Pence said. “I think we’ll have many choices in the days ahead. And we just might be a part of it.”
Mike Pence is a calm, even tempered man, but says that was hard on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I did not feel fear that day,” Pence said. “But I was angry. I was angry.”
Pence and his wife and daughter were sequestered in the Capitol, just feet from the surging mob. He refused to leave.
“And thanks to the courage of law enforcement, the unity shown by Republican and Democratic leaders in the Congress when we were able to quell the violence, reconvene the Congress, and a day of tragedy became a triumph of freedom,” he said.
Pence made remarks occasionally about the Jan. 6 riot and has gently criticized Trump, but his book is his first full account.
“Why did it take two years for you to tell the story since we now know from your book, and from the interview you did with David Muir (Monday), that you were really angry and that this was, you know, a traumatic situation for you and for the nation?” Putney asked.
“Well, Michael, I would tell you that writing a book is a large project. And ‘So Help Me God’ is really the story of my whole life and my journey,” Pence replied.
Putney pressed Pence on whether Trump should run again in 2024.
“Well, I think no one could have defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 other than Donald Trump, but for 2024, I think we’ll have better choices,” Pence said.