Former VP Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president with a firm denunciation of former Pres. Trump, accusing his 2-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on Jan. 6, 2021.
Republican presidential candidate former Vice President Mike Pence poses for a photo with an audience member at a campaign event, Wednesday in Ankeny, Iowa.
But Pence faces steep challenges. Despite being one of the best-known Republican candidates in the crowded field, he is viewed skeptically by voters on both the left and the right. Trump critics consider him complicit in the former president's most indefensible actions, while many Trump loyalists have maligned him as a traitor, partly to blame for denying the president a second term.
His Wednesday audience in an auditorium decorated with red, white and blue balloons included a number of Iowa Republican officials, including former Iowa Rep. Greg Ganske, whose time in Congress overlapped briefly with Pence's. John Steuterman, a 44-year-old insurance executive, said he was drawn to Pence's experience in the White House and was "tired of the negativity" another Trump term would bring.
"I'm not married to the idea, but I'm going to watch and listen and I'm going to follow this guy," he said. Pence's decision to focus on Jan. 6 reflects his advisers' strategy that the Capitol attack has to be confronted directly.
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