Washington — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday he “cannot in good conscience” endorse former President Donald Trump.
“It should come as no surprise, I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president, said the former president “is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years.”
The former vice president’s refusal to back Trump is a reversal from early in the primary campaign, when he raised his hand during the first Republican debate to say he would support Trump as the party’s nominee even if he were to be convicted. Trump is now facing four separate indictments and is the first president ever to be accused of state and federal crimes.
Pence said Friday there were “profound differences” between him and Trump on a number of issues, including his resistance against Trump’s repeated demands to reject the Electoral College results after the 2020 campaign.
“As I have watched his candidacy unfold, I’ve seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt,” Pence said. “I’ve seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity of human life.”
Pence also criticized Trump’s opposition to legislation that would force Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok to continue operating in the U.S.
The former vice president wouldn’t say who he’s voting for in November, but also said it would not be for President Biden. Both Mr. Biden and Trump became the presumptive nominees of their respective parties earlier this week.
“I’m going to keep my vote to myself,” he said. “I would never vote for Joe Biden.”