Former Vice President Mike Pence backed away from “trading insults” with his former boss after a registered Independent voter doubted if he’ll “stand up” to him at a meet-and-greet event in New Hampshire.
Pence, who is set to challenge former President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primaries next year, listened as the voter – Tom Loughlin – gave him what he referred to as an “honest comment” on his White House prospects, ABC News reported.
“I would love to see you be President of the United States. I’m just gonna give you an honest comment. I don’t believe you ever will be until the day you stand up to that man,” Loughlin told Pence.
Pence, who once said Trump should “never be president” due to his coup attempt on January 6, 2021, fired back at the voter’s remark.
“Some people think we did a fair amount of standing up two and a half years ago... I joined the ticket because there was a tacit commitment that we would govern as conservatives and we did... but honestly, I think he makes no such promise today,” the former vice president said.
“I’m not interested in trading insults with my old friend. I’m not. And some people think that’s the way to win the presidency. I don’t. But laying out the choice for the American people. We’ve been doing it. We’ll keep doing it.”
Pence’s comments arrive roughly one month before the first primary debate in Milwaukee, an event that Trump has threatened to pass on.
Several candidates have announced that they’ve met the Republican National Committee’s 40,000 unique donor criteria for the debate including ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and gift-card-giving North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.
Pence and his campaign have yet to reveal whether he’s met the threshold, ABC News noted.
Loughlin said that he’s “ill” over Pence’s polling numbers – which fall behind Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy on average – and called on him to go after the former president.
“This man deserves better than that for the people of this country. He has to talk about the future. And he has to talk about how dangerous that man is for our country,” said Loughlin.