Pence launches White House bid with rebuke of Trump

(7 Jun 2023)

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER:4438690

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ankeny, Iowa - 7 June 2023
1. Mike and Karen Pence wave as they walk into rally where Pence announces his 2024 White House bid
++WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Pence, Former U.S. Vice President, Republican Presidential Candidate:
"And as your vice president, I was proud to stand by President Donald Trump every single day when we made America great again. (applause) Everything I am, everything I ever will be, I owe to my family, the people of this country, and to Almighty God."
++WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Pence, Former U.S. Vice President, Republican Presidential Candidate:
"That's why today, before God and my family, I'm announcing that I'm running for president of the United States of America. (applause)"
++WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Pence, Former U.S. Vice President, Republican Presidential Candidate:
"As I've said many times, on that fateful day, President Trump's words were reckless. They endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol. But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice. I chose the Constitution and I always will. (applause)"
++WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mike Pence, Former U.S. Vice President, Republican Presidential Candidate:
"And one last word that in part brings us here today. I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again. (applause)"
++BLACK BETWEEN SHOTS++
6. Mike and Karen Pence wave and walk off stage

STORYLINE:
Former Vice President Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president Wednesday with a firm denunciation of former President Donald Trump, accusing his two-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on Jan. 6, 2021.

Pence, launching his campaign in a suburb of Des Moines, became the first vice president in modern history to challenge the president under whom he served. He said Trump had disqualified himself when he insisted that Pence had the power to keep him in office — even though he did not.

Trump, he said, “endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol” on January 6th. "But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice.”

“I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United Sates again," he said.

Pence has spent much of the past two-and-a-half-years obliquely criticizing Trump, trying to navigate his political future in a party that has been transformed in Trump's image. But Wednesday, as he made his pitch to voters for the first time as a declared candidate, he did not hold his tongue.

He accused the former president of abandoning the conservative values he ran on, including on abortion. Trump has declined to say what limits he supports nationally and has blamed some midterm candidates’ rhetoric for their losses last November.





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