“We’ll go where we’re called,” Pence told the New York Times when asked about the possible head-to-head.
“That’s the way Karen and I have always approached these things.”
The former Vice President’s teasings of a potential White House bid were rounded up and put under the microscope in the Monday report - including speaking appearances in battleground states like Iowa, where he touts the “Trump-Pence Administration” successes but then prepares himself against the ex-president with his endorsement in Georgia’s primary election.
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Meanwhile, despite not formally declaring a 2024 bid yet, Trump has eyes on the competition - including Pence.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, his spokesman slammed his old deputy as “desperate.” He mocked him for trying to “chase” his “lost relevance” amid the former running mates’ latest divide over supporting separate candidates in the Peach State’s gubernatorial election.
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Speaking to the Times before an April speech in Iowa, Pence declared he was “incredibly proud of the record” he and Trump had in office and said he and the ex-president spent “five years in the foxhole” together.
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But he also suggested to GOP voters who Trump put off after last year’s Capitol riot.
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“I have been very moved traveling around the country. How many people have made a point to express appreciation, it has been very humbling to me,” he said about his refusal to go along with Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election.
For his part, the ex-President has seemed to stiffen his manner against his former deputy, who he called a “good guy” in a separate interview earlier this month.
“Mike Pence was set to lose a governor’s race in 2016 before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged,” Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told DailyMail.com.
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Pence, who had been governor of Indiana and the No. 3 House Republican during his time in Congress, was chosen for the ticket to appeal to religious Conservatives within the GOP.
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The spokesman continued: “Now, desperate to chase his lost relevance, Pence is parachuting into races, hoping someone is paying attention. The reality is, President Trump is already 82-3 with his endorsements, and nothing is stopping him from saving America in 2022 and beyond.”
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Trump said of Pence on May 4, “I haven’t spoken to him in a long time, and he’s a nice man. He disappointed me on one thing because I think he should have sent the votes back to the legislatures.”
In Georgia, Trump has tossed his political weight behind former Senator David Perdue. Perdue was defeated by Democrat Senator Jon Ossoff in a runoff election just a day before the January 6 Capitol riot.