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- Trump declined to say if he would select Pence as his running mate once again in 2024.
- The former president is mulling a 2024 bid, while Pence is also exploring own possible campaign.
- Trump’s relationship with Pence was affected the Jan. 6 Electoral College certification.
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Former President Donald Trump on Saturday declined to say if he would select former Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate if he opted for a White House bid in 2024.
Trump told Fox News in an interview that he had a “very good relationship” with Pence, but was “disappointed with Mike on one thing,” a likely reference to the former vice president’s refusal to overturn the 2020 Electoral College certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
Pence, who presided over the certification on January 6, was forced to retreat into a secure location after the Capitol Building was breached that day. Several of the insurrectionists, who were part of a huge mob that sought to stop the certification, openly called for the vice president to be hanged.
Trump didn’t question Pence’s character during the interview, but the former president is still smarting from the election loss, saying that “it’s really too soon to tell” if he would bring Pence back into his fold.
“Certainly we had a very good relationship,” he said. “I was disappointed with Mike on one thing as he understands and some other people understand, but overall, I had a very good relationship with Mike and he’s a very fine person and a fine man.”
He added: “I was disappointed on one account but that was a choice that Mike made, and I want people to make their own decisions and he did. Mike and I have a good relationship … but it’s too early to be discussing running mates.”
During a GOP event in New Hampshire last week, Insider’s Jake Lahut reported that Pence delved into his relationship with the former president as it related to the events of January 6.
“President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day,” he said. “But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.”
He added: “As I said that night, January 6 was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol. But thanks to the swift action of the Capitol Police and federal law enforcement, violence was quelled, the Capitol was secured, and that same day we reconvened the Congress and did our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States.”
In 2016, Trump tapped Pence, who was then Indiana’s governor, to join his ticket, in what was seen as an overture to religious conservatives.
As Pence explores his own possible White House bid, Trump continues to keep his 2024 plans under wraps.
The former president told Fox he would “make a decision in the not so distant future” and added that “people are going to be very happy.”
In his speech at the North Carolina GOP Convention on Saturday, Trump returned to his true form, praising conservatives who supported his agenda, backing Rep. Ted Budd for the Senate seat being vacated by GOP Sen. Richard Burr next year, and criticizing the Biden administration.
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