Former Vice President Mike Pence stoked speculation around a potential 2024 bid for president this week, telling a group of conservative students “I’ll keep you posted” about his possible White House ambitions.
Pence’s tease came during his keynote address at a gathering of the Young America’s Foundation hosted by the University of Virginia.
“I was just wondering if you’re planning to run in 2024 for president,” one student asked following the former veep’s speech.
“I’ll keep you posted,” Pence responded.
The former vice president has teased a possible run before, telling Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo last month that he would not rule it out.
“All my focus right now is on 2022,” Pence said at the time. “I think we have a historic opportunity to reclaim majorities in the House and Senate, to elect great Republican governors around America and, in 2023, I’m confident the Republican Party will nominate a candidate who will be the next president of the United States of America and at the right time, my family and I will reflect and consider how we might participate in that process.”
Pence could face a tough battle if he chooses to run in 2024, with former President Donald Trump widely expected to throw his hat into the ring.
While Trump has not formally said he will run, punting a final decision until after the November midterms, a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll found that the 45th president would defeat President Biden by a 47% to 41% margin. The same poll found that only 24% of Republican voters would support Pence.
Trump has already indicated that he will not pick Pence as his running mate again if he does make yet another White House bid.
Still, Pence’s recent public appearances could indicate his own presidential ambitions.
At UVA on Tuesday, the former vice president also took the opportunity to blast “cancel culture,” saying it was against “freedom.”
“We live in a time when many on the radical left routinely demean the American founding. Today radical progressives seek to rewrite our Constitution and erode the liberties enshrined in our Bill of Rights,” Pence said. “Every day we see efforts to silence, or cancel, those that dare to disagree with the progressive orthodoxy.”
During his remarks, Pence also criticized Biden for pushing what he called “woke-ism,” accusing the administration of replacing “patriotic education” with “political indoctrination,” citing critical race theory and recent tensions over transgender women competing in women’s sports at the high school and college level.
Additionally, the former vice president hit Biden’s foreign policy, particularly the president’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Let me tell all of you. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin only understands strength and America must meet this moment with American strength,” Pence said. “That means more military aid to the brave and courageous Ukrainian military. That means more economic sanctions on Putin and his regime.
“And let me also say it means more humanitarian aid,” he added.
Pence also claimed US enemies like North Korea and China have become stronger following the “disastrous” American withdrawal from Afghanistan last year.
“After years of quiet, North Korea are firing missiles again. China seems to act in a more menacing way in the Taiwan Straits every single day. Iran threatens to restart its nuclear program,” he said. “And in Europe, Russia launched an unconscionable war of aggression against the brave people of Ukraine.”
