“I think we’ll have better alternatives in 2024,” Mike Pence said after Trump announced his candidacy.

New York – Former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence He said on Wednesday, the 16th, that voters are “looking for new leadership” yet Disappointing midterm elections for the Republicanswho are now openly debating whether their former boss, Donald TrumpHe must maintain a leadership role in the party.

In an interview with the Associated Press a few hours later Trump announces another bid for the White HousePence declined to say whether he believed the former president was eligible to return to his previous position. But she has tacitly positioned herself as a possible alternative to Republicans seeking conservative leadership without the chaos of the Trump era.

“I think we’ll have better alternatives by 2024,” Pence said. “I am very confident that Republican primary voters will choose wisely.” He said he and his family would gather for the holiday season, “and we will honestly consider our role in the coming days.”

Asked if he was blaming Trump for the GOP’s defeats this week, he said: “The president’s continued efforts to reenact the last election certainly played a role, but … each candidate is individually responsible for his campaign.”

Considering his own presidential campaign, Pence has been raising his profile by promoting his new memoir, “help me God” (no Portuguese-language version), which was released on the same day that Trump made his candidacy for the position of White House official. If Pence decides to move forward, he will be in direct competition with Trump, a collision particularly embarrassing for the former vice president, who spent four years in office defending Trump, refusing to criticize him publicly — even after Jan. 6, 2021.

That’s when a mob of Trump supporters — fueled by Trump’s lie that Pence might somehow overturn the election results — stormed the Capitol building as he presided over the certification of the Democrat’s victory. Joe Biden🇧🇷 The Vice President was moved to safety along with his staff and family as some in the crowd chanted: “Hang Mike Pence!”

However, Pence remained largely reticent in criticizing Trump in the aftermath of the insurrection. This reluctance reflects the fact that the former president remains very popular with the GOP base, which Pence will need to win in order to be competitive in the primary.

“It wasn’t exactly the style of presidency I would have promoted if I were the first name on the ballot,” Pence said of his unlikely partnership with Trump. But it was his presidency and I was there to support him and help him. Until that fateful day in January 2021, I strived to do just that.”

Pence said he didn’t watch Trump’s full announcement speech on Tuesday, but said voters were looking for a new, less controversial direction.

“You know, the president has every right to run again,” he said. But after traveling the country to campaign with midterm candidates, “I have a real feeling that the American people are looking for a new leadership that can unite our country around our highest ideals and that reflects the respect and civility that the American people show each other every day while continuing to advance the policies we have advanced.” during these years of service.

The launch of Trump’s campaign comes as Republicans grapple with the fallout from an election in which they failed to take control of the Senate and are on course to win only a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. The results came despite voters’ deep concerns about inflation and the country’s direction under a Democratic Biden.

Trump has endorsed a long list of candidates in competitive states, including Pennsylvania and Arizona, who have lost their general election races. While Pence said he was pleased with the Republican victory in the House of Representatives, he conceded that the election “wasn’t exactly the red wave we were all hoping for.”

“My take is that the candidates focused on the future, focused on the challenges that the American people face today, and the solutions to those challenges worked very well,” he said. But those who still doubt the 2020 results have — as Trump demanded — “didn’t do so well.”

In his new book, Pence writes in detail about his experience on January 6 and explained it on Wednesday.

“I will never forget the smoldering indignation I felt that day, when I saw those pictures on cell phones as we huddled on the loading dock below the Senate chamber. I can’t help but think about it, not here, not in America.”

In the interview, he recalled his reaction to Trump’s tweets, “which criticized me directly at a time when there were riots in the halls of the Capitol.”

“The president’s words were reckless and endangered my family and everyone in the Capitol,” he said. The boss decided to be part of the problem. I was determined to be part of the solution.”

And when asked what consequences Trump should face for his actions, Pence responded.

He said he believed: “It depends on the American people.” “I really am. And look, I will always be proud of the Trump administration’s four-and-a-half-year record. President Trump wasn’t just my president. He was my friend. And we work together to advance the policies we were elected for.”

“It didn’t end well,” he admitted, understated. And that tragic day in January will always be a very sad day for me, for what happened to our relationship, for the bad advice the chief was getting from a group of lawyers who, as I write in my book, should never have been allowed on the grounds of the house. White, not to mention the Oval Office.

Pence and Trump have always been an odd pair—a gruff, bigoted New York celebrity and earnest Midwestern evangelical who once wrote an essay about the evils of negative campaigning and who, as a rule, says he wouldn’t dine alone with a person. A woman who is not your wife. When asked why he rarely speaks when Trump hurls deeply personal insults at figures like the late senator John McCainIn fact, Pence said, that’s what he signed up for.

“As vice president,” he said, “I thought it was my role to be loyal to the president.” “And so, every step of the way, as I understand it, I believe I have been elected Vice President to uphold the presidency that Donald Trump was elected to advance.”

Indeed, even after January 6, Pence writes in the book, “the two men parted amicably as our service to the nation came to an end.”

“And in the weeks that followed, from time to time, he would call me to talk and check up,” Pence said in the interview. But when he came back to criticize me and others who had defended the Constitution that day, I decided it was best that we go our separate ways. And the [é o que] We own [feito]🇧🇷

When asked why he and Trump parted “amicably,” given the president’s actions — including his decision not to call Pence to check on him during the riots — Pence said he believed the president was genuinely remorseful when they met. First time. Once after day 6.

“For about 90 minutes, we sat and talked. I was very frank with the president. I made it clear to him that I thought I had done my duty that day and felt real remorse on his part.” “The president and I have not only built a good working relationship, but also a friendship over the course of four and a half years. We work together literally every day. But he was different back then. I encouraged him to take it seriously.”

As for his plans for the future, while everyone asks if he plans to run, he and his family will get together over the holidays “and we’ll honestly consider our role in the days ahead.” / AP