Mike Pence has suspended his 2024 presidential bid and everyone made the same joke

Mike Pence, former US vice president under Donald Trump's administration, has suspended his campaign to stand as the Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 election, saying “it has come clear to me that this is not my time”.

Pence was hoping for the GOP nomination - just like Trump, his former boss, who is the frontrunner to take on incumbent President Joe Biden next year.

The ex-veep has sparked fury amongst Maga supporters ever since the events of January 6, 2021, when he refused to overturn the 2020 election result during its certification by Congress.

Rioters attacked the US Capitol building in an insurrection over Trump’s defeat, which saw some chant the phrase “Hang Mike Pence” in relation to his role in the electoral process – a chant Trump himself defended in a shocking interview with ABC News in November of that year.

Announcing his presidential bid back in June, Pence launched a scathing attack on Trump, arguing that “anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States”.

“And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president again,” he added.

However, taking aim at his former boss didn’t do him any favours with Republican voters, with polling from the research company Morning Consult between 20-22 October giving Trump a clear lead over his rivals at 62 per cent, with Pence scoring just five per cent.

And so, during a speech at the Republican Jewish Conference on Saturday, Pence suspended his presidential campaign, telling those in attendance that “the Bible tells us there is a time for every purpose under heaven” and that following his travels across the country, “it has come clear to me that this is not my time”.

He continued: “I’m leaving this campaign but let me promise you: I will never leave the fight for conservative values and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land. So help me God.”

Yet another dig at Trump?

And if it wasn’t obvious with his mentions of the Bible and God, Pence is incredibly religious, with the politician attending a church service in Tennessee in January 2020 which saw a pastor promote beliefs that gay people are “possessed by demons”.

He’s also staunchly anti-abortion, which prompted users on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to make the same joke:

Candidates still vying to be the Republican candidate for 2024 include Trump (obviously), Florida governor Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.