Pence knocks Trump, DeSantis ahead of New Hampshire speech

Decision on a 2024 presidential bid by Pence is expected “by the spring”
Pence: “History will hold Trump accountable” for Jan. 6 attacks
Amid a war of words, Trump claims Pence is to blame for the riot

Updated: Mar 16, 2023 / 07:28 AM CDT

Former Vice President Mike Pence gives a lecture at Christ Chapel on the campus of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich., on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (David Guralnick/Detroit News via AP)

WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to visit New Hampshire Thursday as he toys with a possible run for the White House on the heels of delivering his strongest criticism yet of former President Trump over the deadly U.S. Capitol attacks on Jan. 6, 2021.

During a speech at the annual Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, D.C., Pence said that history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which he called “a disgrace.”

It’s sparked a war of words with Trump as Pence hints at possibly challenging his former boss in the 2024 presidential election for the GOP nomination.

Pence’s latest remarks led to Trump telling reporters, while in Iowa this week, that he believed Pence was to blame for the riot.

While in the month that followed Pence defended his decision and denounced the January 6 violence, he rarely mentioned Trump in doing so. At least seven times over the last four months, Pence has publicly said that Trump’s “reckless” words fueled the insurrection, the Washington Post reported.

Meanwhile, Pence’s running decision is expected this spring, but with stops in Iowa and South Carolina behind him, it also appears that he is taking a more aggressive approach, adding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to his list of critical comments.

While appearing on WGIR Radio Wednesday, Pence took aim at DeSantis’s comments this week calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute.”

“The war going on in Ukraine right now is not a territorial dispute. it is a result of an unprovoked war of aggression by Russia. Russia is trying to redraw international lines by force, which they did under the Bush administration, they did under the Obama administration in Crimea and now they’ve sought to do so again,” Pence said.

Whether or not Pence mentions Trump or DeSantis will be a key to watching in New Hampshire

Pence is scheduled to visit Iowa Saturday, which will likely kick off the presidential primary season next year for Republicans. Both Trump and DeSantis also swung by Iowa for events recently.