Former Vice President Mike Pence expressed his gratitude to President Joe Biden on Monday for his decision to end his reelection campaign.
Biden announced on Sunday that he is stepping out of the presidential race to focus his “energies” on completing his term. This decision came after calls from Democrats urging him to withdraw, following his performance at the first presidential debate and the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“President Joe Biden made the right decision for our country and I thank him for putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own,” Pence posted on social media.
Pence praised the timing of Biden’s announcement, stating it allows the U.S. to project strength to the world. “Now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military stands ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world,” he wrote on X.
Pence, who announced in March that he would not endorse Trump due to disagreements on issues like abortion, the national debt, and the potential sale of TikTok, emphasized the differences between himself and the former president. The two have also had conflicts regarding the events of January 6, 2021, when Trump urged his supporters to protest Pence’s certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
“During my presidential campaign, I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues, and not just our difference on my constitutional duties that I exercised on January the 6th,” Pence told Fox News.
Last year, Trump criticized Pence, calling him “delusional” and accusing him of going to the “dark side.” Trump contended that he never told Pence to disregard the constitutional certification of the election results.
“I never told a newly emboldened … Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.”
As the political landscape shifts with Biden’s withdrawal, Pence’s comments highlight the ongoing divisions within the Republican Party and the challenges facing both parties as they prepare for the upcoming election cycle. The focus now turns to how leaders from both sides will navigate these changes and project unity and strength to the nation and the world.