Republican Mike Pence, who served as vice president in former US President Donald Trump's office, praised President Joe Biden after he withdrew from the 2024 US presidential election race.
Pence praised Biden for making the “right decision” not to run and for putting the interests of the American nation first.
“President Biden made the right decision for our country and I thank him for putting our nation’s interests ahead of his own,” the former vice president wrote on his X account.
Pence also urged leaders from both parties to remain calm and send a message of strength and resolve.
“Following the attempted assassination of President Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign, now is the time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military is ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world,” he added.
Pence's support for Biden comes as no surprise, as the former vice president and Trump clashed over differing views on the 2020 electoral college results on January 6, 2021, when riots broke out at the U.S. Capitol building as chants of “hang Mike Pence” could be heard.
As for the new Democratic presidential nominee, Democrats are lining up for current Vice President Kamala Harris to be chosen as the new nominee for the November election.
However, as the vice president, who was also named as President Biden's running mate for his 2024 US election campaign, appears the apparent candidate to take over the role, the Democratic nominee will be revealed after delegates have cast their votes in the first week of August, just days before the Democratic National Convention begins.
