Mike Pence suspends presidential campaign amid flagging support: 'Uphill battle'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, October 28, 2023

Republican presidential candidate former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks after suspending his campaign for president during the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual Leadership Summit at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on October 28, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The summit features the top GOP presidential candidates who will face their first test on the road to the Republican nomination with the Iowa Caucuses on January 15, 2024. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Former Vice President Mike Pence suspended his presidential campaign Saturday amid flagging support and hemorrhaging funds as his former running mate Donald Trump dominates the Republican primary.

"The Bible tells us that there's a time for every purpose under Heaven," Pence said at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas. "In traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me: this is not my time."

"So, after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today," Pence continued as members of the audience audibly gasped.

Pence, who acknowledged he "always knew this would be an uphill battle," added that while he was leaving the 2024 race, he would "never leave the fight for conservative values, and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land, so help me God."

"I have no regrets," Pence also said. "The only thing that would have been harder than coming up short would have been if we never tried at all."

Devin O’Malley, Pence's spokesperson, said the former vice president and Indiana governor decided to announce the suspension of his campaign at the RJC gathering because “the conflict in Israel is a microcosm of what Pence has been evangelizing regarding populism and traditional conservative values," according to NBC News.

“RJC provided him one last opportunity to make that case and do so in front of a supportive audience," O'Malley said.

Pence struggled to raise enough money during his campaign, with his most recent campaign filing showing that he ended September with $1.18 million on hand and $621,000 in debt, according to The Associated Press.

Pence, who announced his presidential run on June 7 in Iowa but struggled to gain traction even in the heavily Evangelical state, was not expected to garner enough support to qualify for the third GOP primary debate in Miami, Florida, on Nov. 8.

Pence is the first Republican candidate to drop out of the packed 2024 Republican presidential primary field, which Trump has managed to lead despite declining to participate in any debates.

Pence and Trump disagreed over the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump maintained Pence should have rejected and returned to state legislatures amid allegations of fraud. Pence asserted that he did not have the constitutional authority to overrule the election results.

At 57%, a majority of adults in the U.S. have a negative view of Pence, while only 28% view him positively, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in August.

Pence also took flak in July after he and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson butted heads at the Family Leadership Conference in Des Moines over the U.S. involvement in Ukraine and the treatment of Christians in the country.

Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com