Trump Won’t Commit To Backing Pence For 2024 Presidential Election
It’s rare for a sitting president, who has lost a re-election campaign, to run again in the next election cycle after they have lost.
Only one president has successfully done so in the history of our nation — Grover Cleveland is the only chief executive to have served two non-consecutive terms in the White House.
So win or lose in 2020, President Donald Trump probably won’t run again in 2024 (beyond the unlikelihood of him running if he loses next year, if he wins he’ll be subject to term limits and can’t run).
It’s with that background in mind that “Fox & Friends” hosts asked Trump on Friday whether he would endorse his current vice president to run in 2024. Trump gave a tepid non-answer, sidestepping the question and refusing to say that he would support Mike Pence two election cycles from now.
“Well, it’s — I love Mike, we are running again, you’re talking about a long time, so you can’t put me in that position,” Trump said, per reporting from Politico.
It wasn’t out of the question though, either.
“I certainly would give it very strong consideration. He’s a very, very outstanding person,” Trump said.
It’s typical in American politics for vice presidents to run for their former boss’s positions once they’re out of the White House or are bound by term limits. In such instances, the president or former president usually gives an endorsement, or at the very least a very strong statement of support.
Trump doesn't commit to backing Pence for president in 2024 https://t.co/5SekaVBXBG pic.twitter.com/VwTQOUhEEq
— Ashlie Truman (@Truman_Lol) June 14, 2019
But it’s also not unusual for former presidents to stay out of the matter also. Earlier this year, former President Barack Obama refused to give his former vice president, Joe Biden, an endorsement.
His spokeswoman did, however, imply that Obama was happy with how their working relationship — and friendship — flourished during their time together.
“He relied on the vice president’s knowledge, insight, and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today,” Obama’s spokeswoman said, according to Time magazine.
Due to Trump’s unpredictable nature, we cannot be so sure he’d give such glowing praise five years from now, if Pence does indeed run.
Indeed, Trump has ridiculed Pence in the past for his ultra-conservative views, suggesting during private meetings that his vice president would like to see members of the LGBTQ community hanged, according to reporting from USA Today in 2017.