During his time as Vice President, Pence had chosen to align himself with the Christian right, advocating for evangelical values in his politics.

[3] Going into the 2024 election, Trump decided not to select Pence as his running mate, instead choosing Ohio Senator JD Vance.

Since leaving the vice presidency, Pence had distanced himself from Trump's attempts to cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election and made high-profile speeches in early nominating states.

In the 2022 Wisconsin gubernatorial election Pence endorsed former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch; Trump supported businessman Tim Michels.

[12] In November, Pence sat down for a thirty-minute interview in New York City as part of a promotional tour for his book So Help Me God and was asked whether he would support Trump in his recently announced 2024 campaign: "I think we’ll have better choices.

While speaking at a Gridiron dinner in March, an event attended by politicians and journalists, Pence said that Trump was wrong to suggest that he had a right to overturn the election results.

Pence, who became the first 2024 Republican presidential candidate to visit the country, said, "We need to make sure that we provide the Ukrainian military what they need to push back on and defeat Russian aggression here.

In a statement, Pence charged President Biden with being "set on dismantling our once great economy and hurting families who can no longer afford food or find a good paying job" and said the top economic priority of a Pence administration "will be to renew American prosperity by cutting wasteful government spending, restoring the value of the dollar, building resilient supply chains, and restoring American energy independence.

[21] Due to Pence not selecting the fuel grade, and the pump making a noise as he spoke, he was "roundly mocked on social media from both the left and Trump-loyalist right".

"[25] Trump advisor Jason Miller responded to the speech by claiming that Trump's 2016 victory "exposed the massive divide" between voters and "the establishment Beltway insiders who made terrible trade deals, allowed our southern border to become overrun and never missed an opportunity to play world cop.

Pence furthered that Trump's refusal to endorse a 15-week national law banning or limiting abortion and his blaming the overturning of Roe v. Wade as the reason Republicans underperformed in the 2022 midterm elections "sends a signal to pro-life Americans about the priority he’ll put on the cause of life should you return him to the White House.

[44] After the debate, in a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that he "never asked Mike Pence to put me above the Constitution.

"[47] USA Today called Pence's comment about "sleeping with a teacher for 38 years" as "one of the most memorable one-liners of the debate".

[49] Politico mentioned the decline of Pence's performance from the first debate, asserting that he "didn’t do enough to highlight his bona fides as a religious conservative leader, which should be one of his selling points to the Republican Party.

[53] Pence withdrew from the race in a surprise announcement on October 28 at a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas.

"[55] Many of his primary opponents, (including Asa Hutchinson, Tim Scott, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Doug Burgum and Chris Christie) wished him well.