A new candidate launched to conquer the White House. Former Vice President Mike Pence filed Monday, June 5, his candidacy for the 2024 US presidential election, according to documents released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), joining the candidates already declared for the Republican primaries of 2024, including his former partner Donald Trump.

The conservative will formalize Wednesday, the day of his 64 years, his entry into the race with a video, then a meeting in Des Moines in Iowa and will end the day on a set of the CNN channel, according to his relatives.

He joins an already full arena of Republican candidates, with a dozen contenders who, for now, are all far behind in the polls by the former president.

An evangelical Christian, fierce opponent of abortion, Mike Pence helped Donald Trump conquer the religious right by being his running mate during the 2016 presidential campaign. After years of unwavering loyalty, he changed his tone following the assault on the Capitol, which rocked American democracy on January 6, 2021.

Breaking with Trump

On that day, Mike Pence was leading, as vice president, the session in Congress, during which elected officials had to certify Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Although he has only a ceremonial role, Donald Trump had insisted that he refuse to validate the election of the Democrat.

The former governor of Indiana had not complied, which earned him a strong enmity among supporters of the billionaire. Entering the Capitol by force, some had called to "hang" Mike Pence, who had to hide in haste. Since then, he has said the president's words were "irresponsible" and "endangered" him.

The rift between the two men jeopardizes the chances of Mike Pence, whom many supporters loyal to Donald Trump continue to consider a "traitor". The man with the wise white fuse peaks at around 3.8% of voting intentions, far behind the former president (53.2%), according to the average of the latest polls conducted by the site RealClearPolitics.

He is also trailed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (22.4%), who also relies on a very conservative speech but a more offensive tone, as well as by a hair by former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (4.4%).

However, he has been preparing his candidacy for months. After releasing a book called "So Help Me God," the former radio host crisscrossed the country, speaking out in states likely to make a difference in Republican primaries.

With AFP

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