Mike Pence, known once as a kingmaker in Republican politics, has publicly given his full support to former Senator David Perdue, who suffered a crushing defeat against current Republican Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia. Meanwhile, Pence burned his political career in a rare public rebuke of Trump, showing an independent streak by supporting Kemp, who is now facing off against the Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams.
By making a somewhat against Trump gesture, Pence seems to be inching closer to a showdown with the former president over the Republican nomination for the White House in 2024. Over time, he seems to have settled comfortably into his new role as a potential Republican candidate, describing himself as "conservative, but not angry about it."
Pence and Kemp waged an aggressive campaign together, with Pence going out of his way to support Trump, even after expressing criticism of the current Georgia governor and Trump recruiting Perdue for the candidacy.
Excluding the high-stakes race in Georgia, Pence has avoided a direct "you against me" showdown with Trump, gradually distancing himself from the former president while moving closer to the traditional Republican establishment.
As Trump's loyal, fawning right-hand man during his presidency, Pence showered his boss with praise and faded into the background when Trump was in the same area. By 2019, he had become the insider term "sycophant" coined by veteran VP scholar Joel K. Goldstein[1] .
However, it was only after an angry Trump mob stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, that Pence defied Trump, refusing to block the confirmation of Joe Biden's election. Later, Pence acknowledged Trump's false claims about election irregularities, allowing him to be seen as a principled man standing against the January 6 attackers, still a loyal Trumpist.
Now, stepping out of Trump's shadow, Pence plays his "good card" with the same ability he's used for years. During a rally in Georgia near the end of the campaign, he neither criticized Trump nor Perdue, instead emphasizing that the election in 2022 was about the "future," even though some people want it to be about the past[1] .
Interestingly, the most fixated on the past is undoubtedly Trump, who still clings to his "false claim" that he was cheated out of a second term in 2020[1] . The irony lies in the fact that it was Trump's surprising election of Pence as his vice president in 2016 that made Pence relevant, who was then governor of Indiana, facing a tough re-election campaign.
In return, the down-to-earth midwesterner helped Trump win over conservative Christians and right-wing culture warriors, a group that had long been his base. Throughout his time as Trump's second-in-command, Pence demonstrated unshakable loyalty to the president, making him hard to perceive as an enemy of the "Make America Great Again" movement today.
After leaving Georgia, Pence's plans to run for president in 2024 appear to be on the right track. It all started in 2017, when the then-vice president founded a political action committee for fundraising just five months into his term.
However, Trump's war chest is currently at $124 million, a considerable gap Pence must overcome. In September 2023, Pence expressed hope of raising $18 million in the coming year. While the gap is significant, Pence has time to narrow it.
By positioning himself as an "exit ramp" for Republicans who believe the Trump phenomenon is over - despite continuing loyalty demands from the former president - Pence has appealed to some Georgia voters a week before the election. As one voter put it, "Pence's presence is good for the Republican Party as it represents moving in the right direction to exit the Trump carousel."
Regardless of Trump's reactions, he believes in Pence's sincerity. Before the primary election, Trump said he was "very disappointed" with Pence for not supporting his efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcomes. The same day, Trump's spokesperson called Pence "desperately seeking relevance."
[1] enrichment data, including Pence's relationship with Trump, policy disagreements, and lobbying efforts, have not been integrated into the base article.
