Former Vice President Mike Pence is declining to weigh in on whether former President Donald Trump should drop out of the presidential race if he is indicted.
Pence appears to be gearing up for a 2024 presidential run but has decided against commenting on one of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination.
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“Look, it’s a free country. Everybody can make their own decisions,” Pence told reporters in New Hampshire on Thursday, per Politico.
Trump is facing investigations in New York, Georgia, and by special counsel Jack Smith. The New York case, relating to his business dealings, appears to be the closest to a possible indictment.
The former vice president also defended his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, maintaining that he did not have the authority to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“I know our former president has said I had the right to overturn the election, but Donald Trump is wrong,” Pence said. “I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone.”
Pence's comments about Jan. 6 come less than a week after he issued his harshest rebuke of Trump to date at the Gridiron dinner, saying that "history will hold Donald Trump accountable."
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said at the annual Gridiron Club dinner. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
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The former vice president's visit to New Hampshire, an early Republican primary state, has only fueled speculation that Pence will join the GOP field. The only declared major Republican candidates are Trump, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), and entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy.
In most recent polls, Pence is in third or fourth place in the Republican primary, falling behind Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Haley. DeSantis has not announced a 2024 campaign but likely will in the coming months.