Mike Pence Blasts Trump As He Launches Presidential Campaign

Former US vice-president Mike Pence has offered his most forceful repudiation of Donald Trump to date during a speech launching his 2024 campaign.

Photo Insert: The former vice president accused Trump of being unfaithful to the US Constitution and of abandoning conservative values.

He accused Trump of being unfaithful to the US Constitution and of abandoning conservative values, Sarah Smith and Max Matza reported for BBC News.

The former Indiana governor and congressman formally commenced his White House campaign on Wednesday. The move pits him against his two-time running mate, who he served under in the White House from 2017-21.

At a speech in Ankeny, Iowa, Pence argued that Trump had encouraged the mob that attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and had incorrectly asserted that Pence had the power to overturn the election result.

"But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution," he said. "Now, voters will be faced with the same choice: I chose the Constitution and I always will."

He added that Trump's actions in January should disqualify him from returning to power. "I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the US," he said.

"And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the US again."

Pence, 64, also took shots at Democratic President Joe Biden as well, arguing that neither he nor Trump are similar to average Americans who know how to "treat each other with kindness and respect even when we disagree."

Much of his speech focused on his disagreements with Trump, but he also hit out at another Republican 2024 rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

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