Former 'deputy' launches harshest criticism yet against former President Trump

Cựu 'phó tướng' nói gì trong lần chỉ trích ông Trump gay gắt nhất trước nay? - Ảnh 1. — Mr. Mike Pence speaks in Iowa on the evening of June 7.

Speaking on the evening of June 7, Mr. Pence made the strongest condemnation yet of former President Donald Trump's role in the riot that occurred at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. At that time, Mr. Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol to prevent lawmakers from confirming the victory of the current US President, Joe Biden, in the 2020 election.

"I believe that anyone who puts themselves above the Constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks others to put themselves above the Constitution should never be president of the United States again," Reuters quoted Mr. Pence as saying in his campaign kickoff speech in Iowa.

It was an unusual attack by Mr. Pence, not only because he has so far largely avoided directly attacking Mr. Trump, but also because the January 6 riots have rarely been mentioned by other Republican presidential candidates, according to Reuters.

They had already seen the incident as politically toxic, fearing that condemning the attack and Mr Trump’s involvement would anger supporters of the former president, who is now the front-runner in the Republican race.

What chance does former "deputy" Pence have when he confronts Mr. Trump to win the 2024 US presidential election?

Mr Pence thus appears to be taking a high-stakes gamble that primary voters will reward him for defending the constitution, rather than continuing to support Mr Trump.

According to the former vice president, Mr. Trump's actions that day "endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol." Mr. Pence reiterated that he had no constitutional authority to interfere with the election results and that Mr. Trump was "wrong." In Twitter posts on January 6, 2021, the 45th president of the United States said Mr. Pence was a coward, while some Trump supporters called for the vice president to be "hanged."

"The American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also asked me to choose between him and the Constitution. Now voters will face the same choice. I have chosen the Constitution and I always will," he said.

Previously, in the campaign announcement video released the same day, Mr. Pence did not directly mention Mr. Trump's name, although he specifically criticized Mr. Biden.

During Trump’s tumultuous four years in the White House, Pence repeatedly defended his boss through scandals. But he drew the ire of Trump and his supporters when he refused to block the certification of Biden’s victory as president of the Senate.

It is extremely rare for a vice president to run against a president he once served under in an election, and it has happened only a handful of times in U.S. history. Pence entered the Republican primary with a tough challenge, with just 5% support — 44 percentage points behind Trump — according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May.

Mr Pence, a deeply religious Christian conservative, will focus much of his campaign on Iowa, where Christians make up a significant portion of Republican voters.

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