Hailing the recent endorsements of a pair of Republican presidential primary dropouts this week, former President Donald Trump called on "disloyal" former Vice President Mike Pence to join them.
"Everybody that leaves seems to be endorsing me," Trump told a Las Vegas, Nevada, rally late Saturday night. "You know people are leaving now and they're all endorsing me."
Both former Michigan businessman Perry Johnson and conservative broadcaster Larry Elder officially ended their GOP primary campaigns this week and quickly endorsed Trump.
Pence ended his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference Saturday by dropping out, too, but he has yet to endorse his former boss he had been critical of since leaving office in January 2021.
"I don't know about Mike Pence: He should endorse me," Trump told his Las Vegas rally, which came hours after his RJC speech that aired live and in its entirety Saturday on Newsmax and will be re-aired Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT. "He should endorse me. You know why? Because I had a great, successful presidency, and he was the vice president. He should endorse me."
Trump has long denounced his GOP primary challengers who have taken his endorsement in the past only to run against him. In Pence's case, the former vice president even took his side in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections only to run against Trump in 2024.
"I chose him, made him vice president, but people in politics can be very disloyal," Trump told the late-night Vegas rally.
Pence ended his cash-strapped presidential campaign earlier Saturday, struggling for months to convince Republican voters he was the best alternative to the man he once served with unswerving loyalty.
"Traveling over the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me: This is not my time," Pence said. "So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today."
Pence stopped short of endorsing anyone in his speech but seemed to swipe at his former boss.
"I urge all my fellow Republicans here, give our country a Republican standard bearer that will, as Lincoln said, appeal to the better angels of our nature," Pence said, adding it should also be someone who leads the country with "civility."
A source close to Pence laughed when asked whether he would endorse Trump.
A spokesperson for Pence did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on his endorsement plans.
Trump will headline his eighth campaign event in Iowa in a little more than a month on Sunday as part of the former president's accelerated fall schedule leading up to the first-in-the-nation caucuses in January.
Trump's planned speech at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux City, in GOP-heavy western Iowa, follows events Monday in New Hampshire and Saturday in Nevada. The Republican's campaign has long tried to show its dominance over his rivals with big early-state victories.
The former president has drawn roughly 14,000 people to events in eastern and central Iowa since late September, while other candidates in the 2024 race have competed for much smaller audiences as they try to emerge as the most viable alternative.
Trump has said he expects to win Iowa big as he defies the typical strategy of lowering expectations. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is campaigning aggressively in Iowa, has criticized Trump for skipping the series of Republican presidential debates and campaigning only before large audiences.
Trump will skip the third debate, scheduled for Nov. 8.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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