President Donald Trump has issued a response after his former VP Mike Pence revealed that he would not endorse his re-election bid.
Pence revealed last week that he would not endorse Trump due to their falling out in disagreement during the aftermath of the disputed 2020 election.
Trump was asked this week by a reporter about the overt snub from his former vice president.
According to Townhall, he replied dismissively, asserting: “I couldn’t care less.”
He went on to outline some of the attributes that he was looking for in a potential running mate that, presumably, no longer applied to Pence.
On Tuesday, after casting his vote in the Florida primary election alongside former First Lady Melania Trump, the 45th president briefly addressed a gaggle of reporters.
He was asked for his reaction to the endorsement snub from Pence.
“Oh, I couldn’t care less. I couldn’t care less,” Trump replied without hesitation.
“We need patriots,” he noted.
“We need strong people in our country.
“Our country is going downhill very fast, very rapidly.”
“Millions of people coming across the border.
“Coming from jails, prisons,” he added.
“Coming from mental institutions and insane asylums — terrorists.
“We need strong people in this country.
“We don’t need weak people.”
WATCH:
President Trump on Mike Pence withholding his endorsement: “I couldn’t care less.” pic.twitter.com/cs8JTv2u7R
— RSBN 🇺🇸 (@RSBNetwork) March 19, 2024
During an interview last Friday with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Pence said:
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.”
“I’m incredibly proud of the record of our administration.
“It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world.”
He then continued by mentioning a few issues where there were “profound differences” between himself and Trump.
“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence asserted.
“That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
Pence was almost certainly never in the running to be included on former President Trump’s “shortlist” of contenders to be his running mate in the current cycle.
The list is believed to be “very long” and constantly fluctuating, according to a CNN report that cited unnamed advisers within the Trump campaign as its source.
It is believed that Trump has not yet made a final decision on who his vice presidential candidate will ultimately be.
He reportedly has been floating a variety of different names for the position in conversations with advisers, donors, and Mar-a-Lago club members, and at campaign events and rallies.
One unnamed adviser told the outlet:
“One day he is trashing someone, and the next day he is asking allies about that person as vice president.
“Sometimes he’s just curious what people think of them.”
Currently, the list of possible VP candidates — which is subject to change and in no particular order — reportedly includes names like Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), and J.D. Vance (R-OH), along with Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, plus former Housing Sec. Ben Carson, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, among a few others.
