(JustPatriots.com)- The relationship between former President Donald Trump and his Vice President Mike Pence deteriorated toward the end of the Trump administration, following Pence’s refusal to work to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Now, two years later, that relationship doesn’t seem to have gotten any better at all.
During an interview he gave to CBS News recently, Pence twice refused to say that he would support Trump if he were to secure the GOP nomination for president in 2024.
Caitlin Huey-Burns, a political correspondent for CBS News who conducted the interview, asked Pence about the upcoming presidential election, and the former vice president said “different times call for different leadership.” He continued:
“I’m very confident we’ll have better choices come 2024, and I’m confident our standard-bearer will win the day in November of that year.”
Huey-Burns didn’t let Pence escape with just that response, though. She pressed on, referring to a recent comment Pence made that urged voters to “resist the temptation of focusing on personalities or embracing a populism unmoored to conservative principle.”
This was seen to be a major shot at his former boss. Huey-Burns questioned Pence about whether his comments were made because he was starting to pitch himself as a potential alternative to Trump in the upcoming GOP primary.
Pence wouldn’t specifically say whether he would be seeking the GOP nomination in 2024, though he did recently say that he expected to make his final decision by this spring.
During the CBS News interview, Pence didn’t take the bait and specifically criticize Trump. He did, however, refer repeatedly to “the Trump-Pence administration” as well as “Trump-Pence policies.”
It’s a careful balance Pence is trying to play as he seems to be planning a presidential run of his own. He is looking to try to separate himself from Trump, but he can’t separate himself too much, as that could reflect badly on his own performance in the Trump administration.
That’s why he’s seemingly focusing so much on Trump’s personality and some of the things he did personally when he talks negatively. Yet, when he refers to what the Trump administration did and the policies it pursued, he talks in a much more glowing light.
During the CBS News interview, Pence reflected back on his time as vice president when he said “obviously the administration did not end well.”
The topic of the conversation then turned to the subpoena that was sent from the special counsel who’s overseeing the Department of Justice’s investigation into the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
There was much speculation about whether Pence would testify as a way to potentially hurt Trump in his path to seeking the White House again. But, Pence said recently that he would fight the subpoena tooth and nail, all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
He said during his CBS News interview:
“The notion of compelling a former vice president to appear in court to testify against he president with whom they served is unprecedented, but I also believe it’s unconstitutional.”
