The former president and vice-president of the United States, who would be tempted to run for the next presidential election, support two different candidates for the post of governor of Arizona.
Donald Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence, two potential Republican candidates for the 2024 US presidential election, held competing meetings in Arizona on July 22.
The pair, whose successful 2016 campaign landed the Republican billionaire in the White House, are now estranged after Mike Pence’s refusal to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, and support rival candidates for governor of this southwestern US state.
A meeting the day after the commission of inquiry on the Capitol
This remote duel in Arizona – Mike Pence was in Phoenix to support Karrin Taylor Robson, and Donald Trump in Prescott Valley to support Kari Lake – came the day after revelations about the situation of the former vice president during the assault on the Capitol in Washington, January 6, 2021. Mike Pence, who was there to oversee the certification of the election results, had to hide to escape the rioters like many parliamentarians on both sides.
His bodyguards havebegan to fear for their own lives» and to «bid farewell to their families“Said a White House official on condition of anonymity before the parliamentary committee responsible for investigating the events of January 6.
Read alsoUnited States: the January 6 commission of inquiry confirms the central role of Trump in the attack on the Capitol
Donald Trump had long refused to call on his supporters to leave the Congress building and even reproached his vice-president in a tweet for not wanting to block the certification, fueling the grievances of the protesters. “Arizona finally has a chance for a SUPER Governor. Vote for Kari Lake“, had written Donald Trump Thursday on his social network Truth Social.
Immigration and the “stolen” election of 2020
After keeping the crowd waiting for more than two hours, he began his Friday speech by talking about immigration – a major campaign issue in Arizona, which shares a long stretch of border with Mexico. He quickly veered towards the 2020 election.”The election was rigged and stolen and our country is now being systematically destroyed because of it“, he launched to a crowd who ignited in return.
For his part, Mike Pence – who had tweeted upstream that he had “looking forward to campaigning with the next Governor of Arizona @Karrin4Arizona!– spoke about twenty minutes in front of an audience seated in a warehouse. He hailed the accomplishments offour years of the Trump-Pence administration“, briefly criticizing the candidate supported by the former president for having previously been a supporter of the Democrats and for her initial opposition to Donald Trump.
“Arizona Republicans don’t need a governor who backed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton“, noted Mike Pence, also considering, with reference to Donald Trump’s accusations concerning the 2020 election, that “if the Republican Party allows itself to be consumed by the grudges of the past, we will lose“.
Donald Trump, who retains a strong hold on the Republican Party, is flirting more and more openly with the idea of a presidential candidacy in 2024. Mike Pence is increasing his interventions at conferences or appearances with candidates local elections. He does not rule out running against his former running mate, assuring to pray on the issue and that he and his wife Karen will go “where we will be called“.
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