Pence: Americans want leadership that reflects more ‘civility and respect’
Former Vice President Mike Pence said on Wednesday that Americans want leadership that reflects the “civility and respect” that they show each other every day.
Pence, widely thought to be eying a 2024 White House bid, said on “Fox & Friends” that people have come up to him to say that they want to see the policies of the Trump administration but also have a “genuine desire for leadership that could unite the country around our highest ideals.”
“I’m out of politics now. And once you — once you get out of politics, and we moved back to Indiana is, you realize, the American people actually get along pretty well most days and it’s our politics that’s deeply divided,” he said.
Pence said he believes the country wants a “new style of leadership” that reflects how they interact with others every day.
Pence’s interview comes as his new memoir “So Help Me God,” is released and as he engages in multiple high-profile interviews. He met with ABC News’s David Muir for an interview on “World News Tonight” that aired on Monday and is participating in a CNN town hall on Wednesday.
Former President Trump, meanwhile, announced a 2024 White House run on Tuesday.
Pence has repeatedly said in interviews, including with Fox on Wednesday, that he believes there will be “better choices” than Trump for the Republican nomination in 2024.
He said on Fox that his family will get together and talk, pray and reflect on his potential future in politics.
“And then Karen and I will make a decision based upon that sense of calling in our lives,” Pence said, referring to his wife, the former second lady.
Some polls have shown Trump’s support dropping since last week’s midterm elections, for which he has received blame over the GOP’s performance. The Republican Party had hoped to make large gains in both houses of Congress, but the party failed to win control of the Senate and will likely only win a narrow majority in the House.
Many key Trump-backed candidates who were seen as weaker than some of their primary opponents but more loyal to the former president ultimately lost their races.
Polls show Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as the alternative to Trump with the most support.