US election: Mike Pence enters race for White House – and will face off against Donald Trump for nomination
Former vice-president Mike Pence has declared himself a candidate in the 2024 Republican race for the White House – pitting himself against Donald Trump.
Mr Pence‘s campaign filed a declaration of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
He will formally launch his campaign with a video and a speech in the early nominating state of Iowa on Wednesday, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters, which is his 64th birthday.
The 48th vice president of the United States will challenge his former boss just two years after their White House tenure ended with the infamous Capitol riots – which saw Mr Pence, who was in the building with his family, flee for safety.
Mr Trump is currently leading the early fight for the nomination, with Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, polling consistently in second.
However, Mr Pence’s supporters see a gap in the race for a traditional conservative who backs many of the previous administration’s policies – but does not bring the turmoil associated with Mr Trump’s leadership.
He once stood loyally by the billionaire businessman turned politician – but refused to back the former president when he attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Mr Pence said what Mr Trump did was “wrong”, insisting the presidency “belongs to the American people and the American people alone.”
The White House hopeful has spent months laying the groundwork for an expected run – holding events, visiting churches and speaking to potential donors in Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
On Sunday he and DeSantis joined hundreds of motorcyclists in Iowa to take part in Republican US Senator Joni Ernst’s annual Roast and Ride event, in aid of a veterans’ charity, the Freedom Foundation.
Mr Pence, joined by his wife, Karen, was pictured wearing a black leather waistcoat as he rode a blue Harley Davidson in the convoy.
Mr Pence told crowds at the Roast and Ride event that he would be announcing in Iowa on Wednesday Pic: AP
Later he told cheering crowds at the event: “I have to tell you over the last two years, Karen and I have spent a lot of time reflecting and praying about…everything this country is dealing with and what we might do to serve.
“I don’t have anything to announce today, but I can tell you, when I got time to announce, come this Wednesday, I am announcing in Iowa.”
Mr Pence declined to say whether he would back Mr Trump if the former US president wins the Republican nomination, when questioned by journalists in March.
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The former governor of Indiana describes himself as a “Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”.
He is strongly opposed to abortion and has backed calls for a national ban, while also campaigning against policies which support transgender people in schools.
Mr Pence has also urged US officials to give more help to Ukraine in its war against Russia and has criticised “Putin apologists” for failing to stand up to the Russian president.
He joins a growing number of Republican rivals, also including U.S Senator Tim Scott, and the former governor of South Carolina, Niki Haley.
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Sources close to North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum say he intends to throw his hat into the ring on Wednesday.
Meanwhile the former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, is also planning to enter the race on Tuesday.
But the number of candidates vying for the nomination has caused concern among Trump opponents inside the Republican party, who fear the anti-Trump vote could be split – handing the candidacy to the former president.
Last December Mr Pence’s team were forced to deny he had filed to run for president in 2024 after a statement of candidacy listed Mike Richard Pence instead of his legal name, Michael Richard Pence.
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Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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