Former President Donald Trump responded to the possibility of former Vice President Mike Pence running for president in 2024 by saying that it would be a "hard" race for him and doubting his chances of winning.
Trump make the comments during an interview with CBN News published on Wednesday.
Though Trump has not officially announced his candidacy, he is expected to run for a third time in the next election.
“I don’t want to say,” Trump responded when asked about the possibility of his former VP running. “If Mike got in, I think it would be a hard one for him. I think it would be a hard one. I understand where the base is. I love the base. The base loves me. I think it would be hard, but Mike was a good guy. I thought he was a very good vice president. He was my friend.”
When asked about his relationship with Pence, Trump said that he "disappointed" him by voting to certify the 2020 election results for Joe Biden.
“Honestly, I haven’t spoken to Mike in a long time,” the former president said, later adding, “A long time is four or five months. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time. And he’s a nice man. He disappointed me on one thing because I think he should have sent the votes back to the legislatures.”
Pence signaled that he was open to running during an interview with Fox Business in March.
Speaking to Maria Bartiromo on Mornings With Maria, Pence said that "at the right time, my family and I will reflect and consider how we might participate in that process." Pence may ‘consider’ 2024 run https://t.co/jKxQdsEMqR@MorningsMaria @FoxBusiness"All of my focus right now is on 2022," Pence replied. "I think we have a historic opportunity to reclaim majorities in the House and Senate, to elect great Republican governors around America and, in 2023, I’m confident the Republican Party will nominate a candidate who will be the next President of the United States of America and at the right time, my family and I will reflect and consider how we might participate in that process."
"But now more than ever with war in Europe and with an administration seemingly intent on weakening our country, driving our nation toward a European-style welfare state, we need strong Republican majorities on Capitol Hill and strong Republican governors, and that's what we are going to work to achieve," he added.
— Maria Bartiromo (@MariaBartiromo) March 8, 2022
The day before the Fox Business interview, Axios reported that Pence's advocacy organization, Advancing American Freedom, planned to spend $10 million on TV ads targeting 16 vulnerable House Democrats on energy policy and Ukraine.
"Pence contrasted himself against Trump last week, slamming the GOP's 'apologists' for Putin. Now he's using the Russian invasion to trash Democrats," the report noted.
According to data from YouGov, Pence's popularity rating is currently at 28 percent, while he is disliked by 45 percent.
In December, Trump said that Pence is "mortally wounded" in the GOP for not returning the votes.
Speaking at a "History Tour" event with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly in Florida, Trump said, "I was disappointed in one thing, but it was a big thing. Mike should have sent those crooked votes back to the legislatures, and you would have had a different result in the election, in my opinion."
"I think Mike has been very badly hurt by what took place in respect to January 6," Trump said. "I think he's been mortally wounded, frankly, because I see the reaction he's getting from people."
