It’s official. Mike Pence, former vice-president of the United States, filed his candidacy for the White House on Monday June 5, according to documents published by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). He will thus challenge his former boss, Donald Trump, during the Republican primaries. The conservative will be opposed to a dozen suitors who, for the time being, are all far behind in the polls by the billionaire.
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Evangelical Christian, fierce opponent of abortion, Mike Pence had 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.
A ‘traitor’ to Trump supporters
That day, Mike Pence led, as vice-president, the session in Congress, during which the elected officials had to certify the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election of 2020. Donald Trump had insisted that he refuse to validate the election of the Democrat, but the former governor of Indiana had not complied. Entering the Capitol by force, some Trumpist supporters had called for “hang” Mike Pence, who had to hide in a hurry. He has since ruled that the president’s words were “irresponsible” and had it “put in danger”.
This split between the two men jeopardizes the chances of Mike Pence, whom many activists loyal to Donald Trump continue to consider a “traitor”. The man caps around 3.8% of voting intentions, far behind the former president (53.2%), according to the average of the latest polls carried out by the RealClearPolitics site. He is also outdistanced by the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis (22.4%), who is also betting on a very conservative speech but on a more offensive tone.