前副总统迈克·彭斯将于下周宣布他将竞选总统知情人士向ABC新闻证实，6月7日晚些时候，他在爱荷华州发表了首场演讲，并在得梅因的一个市政厅前发布了一段竞选视频。
彭斯将在共和党初选中与唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)竞争——与他刚刚脱离的前老板展开个人斗争1月6日的袭击。
预计他将面临一个平衡的行动:将自己标榜为与总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)较量的最佳共和党人，同时宣扬与特朗普相同的政策胜利，并且在特朗普一再批评他的情况下不排斥特朗普的支持者。
6月7日的时机让彭斯走上了正轨，他承诺在6月底之前做出决定。他的预期声明将在一群保守派盟友发起一个政治团体支持他的候选人资格几周后发布。
这个致力于美国的超级政治行动委员会希望将彭斯“重新介绍”给选民——该组织认为，这些选民对这位前副总统没有全面的了解——并随着2024年候选人名单的增长，吸引可能停留在其他候选人身上的选民的注意力。
“人们知道迈克·彭斯，他们只是不太了解他，”联席主席斯科特·里德本月早些时候告诉一小群记者。“这次竞选将把迈克·彭斯作为他自己的人重新介绍给这个国家，不是作为副总统，而是作为一个真正的经济、社会和国家安全保守派——一个里根保守派。”
支持彭斯的团体表示，它将在爱荷华州进行大量投资，该州对共和党来说至关重要，因为它明年将举行第一次提名竞争。
“我们将组织爱荷华州所有99个县，就像我们在竞选县治安官一样，”里德说，他曾负责鲍勃·多尔1996年的总统竞选。
共和党全国委员会的前通讯主任道格·叶禾说，任何人把便士排除在外都为时过早。
“很多事情都可能发生——当然，当你有一个被起诉并面临其他潜在起诉的领先者时，这可能会在明年11月前争夺场地，”叶禾说。“如果出现争夺，就不清楚支持会流向哪里。所以你才会看到这么多人进去。他们非常清楚地看到了特朗普的弱点。虽然他肯定会遇到一些障碍，但很明显，彭斯比任何人都清楚自己的弱点。”
在1月6日之后权衡运行
今年3月，在接受美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)驻华盛顿首席记者乔纳森·卡尔(Jonathan Karl)的专访时，彭斯表示，他正在“认真考虑”竞选2024年共和党提名。
彭斯当时就如果特朗普赢得共和党提名，他是否会支持特朗普提出异议，但他表示，他相信会有“更好的选择”。
在当时和随后的几个月里，彭斯在爱荷华州和新罕布什尔州举行了面向选民的活动。他还在11月出版了回忆录《上帝保佑我》。
“我们得到了很多鼓励，不仅是在爱荷华州，而是在全国各地，”彭斯在3月份告诉卡尔。"我们正在认真考虑我们可能扮演的角色。"
作为特朗普在任时的忠实盟友，彭斯此后与前总统发生了明显的争吵，原因是特朗普拒绝放弃权力——2021年1月6日，特朗普呼吁彭斯尝试拒绝选举人团的结果，导致美国国会大厦发生致命的骚乱。
那天，特朗普的一群支持者突破了国会大厦，彭斯和议员们被转移到安全的地方。
彭斯告诉卡尔说:“我们都面临历史的审判，我相信历史会让唐纳德·特朗普为1月6日的事件负责，其他涉案人员也是如此。”
他补充说:“我也认为美国人民也会有发言权。我的意思是，总统现在再次成为候选人，他正在竞选，但当我走遍全国时，我确信美国人民已经从那一天吸取了教训。”
彭斯告诉卡尔，他和特朗普友好地离开了白宫，但在那之后的两年里没有说过话。
“我们友好而尊重地分手了，但在接下来的几个月里，他又回到了1月6日之前使用的那套说辞，这套说辞一直延续到今天，这就是我们分道扬镳的原因，”他说。
“他们知道这一事实，即总统不计后果的话危及了那天在国会大厦的人，包括我和我的家人，”彭斯谈到公众时说，“我相信他们在为这个国家的未来做出决定时会考虑所有这些因素。”
虽然彭斯批评特朗普发动叛乱，但他在他可以质疑特朗普的大多数其他领域都站在了这位前总统一边。
当特朗普被纽约大陪审团以伪造商业记录的罪名起诉时，彭斯附和他，称这是“政治指控的起诉”，“不是美国人民希望看到的”。
虽然同为总统候选人的阿萨·哈钦森(Asa Hutchinson)谴责了特朗普，但彭斯在共和党的MAGA wing试图取消该案件的合法性时发出了类似的抱怨。他劝阻了前总统呼吁的抗议活动，但指出了第一修正案和平集会的权利。
“彭斯非常有条理，也很有策略，”叶禾说。“在政治上，他将在那些他认为最有利的事情上与特朗普正面交锋——并且着眼于历史，显然他正在努力这样做。”
从印第安纳到华盛顿
彭斯出生于印第安纳州哥伦布市的一个罗马天主教家庭，是南希和爱德华的六个孩子之一，他们经营着一家加油站，并在朝鲜战争中服役。
他就读于汉诺威学院，在那里他是Phi Gamma Delta兄弟会的分会主席，并就读于印第安纳大学法学院。经过一段时间的私人执业和两次失败的国会竞选，彭斯在2000年当选国会议员之前，在印第安纳州担任保守派电台和电视主持人，最终成为众议院共和党会议主席。
在国会任职四届并担任印第安纳州州长一届后，彭斯在2016年结束了连任竞选，当时特朗普任命他为共和党副总统候选人。
2023年5月17日，前副总统迈克·彭斯在新罕布什尔州多佛的“木材和龙虾”活动上问候客人
Scott Eisen/Getty Images，文件
在大学期间，彭斯离开了天主教堂，成为一名福音派基督徒，这可能是他2024年竞选的一个主题-哈钦森和南卡罗莱纳州参议员蒂姆·斯科特为这些选民定位。
“特朗普过去没有，将来也不会有一系列政策立场。他是一种态度。但在特朗普政府可以声称在保守派那里取得成功的地方，迈克·彭斯到处都有指纹，”叶禾说。“他和福音派社区保持着非常密切的联系，这在共和党初选中当然非常重要...很难想象在这个群体中还有谁比迈克·彭斯更有信誉。”
彭斯与妻子苏珊结婚37年，他深情地称她为“母亲”。他们在教堂相遇，当他们搬到华盛顿时，他发誓不再和其他女人单独用餐。他们有三个成年子女:迈克尔、夏洛特和奥黛丽。
他将加入2024年共和党候选人快速扩大的领域:川普、妮基·黑利、维韦克·拉马斯瓦米、哈钦森、斯科特、拉里·埃尔德和史蒂夫·拉菲。
克里斯·克里斯蒂在2016年彭斯当选特朗普副总统时被忽略，预计他将于下周在共和党初选日历上的第二个州新罕布什尔州宣布自己的竞选。北达科他州州长道格·伯根也将于下周三宣布竞标。
Mike Pence announcing 2024 presidential bid next week in Iowa: Source
Former Vice President Mike Pencewill announce next week that he is running for president, giving a kickoff speech in Iowa and releasing a campaign video on June 7 ahead of a town hall with CNN later that day in Des Moines, a source familiar confirms to ABC News.
Pence will be running against Donald Trump in the Republican primary -- setting up a personal battle with the former boss he only broke from in the wakeof the Jan. 6 attack.
He's expected to have a balancing act ahead of him: pitching himself as the best Republican to take on President Joe Biden while touting the same policy wins as Trump and not ostracizing Trump's supporters amid Trump's repeated criticism of him.
The June 7 timing puts Pence on track with his promise to make a decision before late June. His expected announcement will come weeks after a group of conservative allies launched a political group to support his candidacy.
That super PAC, Committed to America, hopes to both "reintroduce" Pence to voters -- who, the group believes, don't have a full sense of the former vice president -- and to catch the attention of voters perhaps stuck on other candidates as the list of 2024 hopefuls grows longer.
"People know Mike Pence, they just don't know him well," co-chair Scott Reed told a small group of reporters earlier this month. "This campaign is going to reintroduce Mike Pence to the country as his own man, not as vice president, but as a true economic, social and national security conservative -- a Reagan conservative."
The pro-Pence group said it will make significant investments in Iowa, a state critical for Republicans as it holds the first nominating contest next year.
"We're going to organize Iowa, all 99 counties, like we're running him for county sheriff," said Reed, who previously managed Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.
Doug Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee, said it would be premature for anyone to count Pence out.
"A whole lot can happen -- and certainly when you have the front-runner who's under indictment and facing potential other indictments, that can scramble the field before next November," Heye said. "If there's a scramble, it's not clear where that support then goes. That's why you see so many people getting in. They see a vulnerability with Trump, very clearly. And while he'll certainly have some obstacles, it's clear that Pence knows his weaknesses better than anyone else."
Weighing a run in the wake of Jan. 6
In March, during an exclusive interview with ABC News' chief Washington correspondent, Jonathan Karl, Pence said he was giving a run for the 2024 GOP nomination "serious consideration."
Pence demurred then on whether he would support Trump if Trump were to win the Republican nomination but said that he believed there would be "better choices."
At the time and in the ensuing months, Pence has held voter-facing events in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He also published a memoir, "So Help Me God," in November.
"We're getting a lot of encouragement, not only here in Iowa, but all across the country," Pence told Karl in March. "We're giving prayerful consideration to what role we might play."
A loyal ally of Trump while they were in office, Pence has since had a notable falling out with the former president over Trump's resistance to relinquishing power -- climaxing in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as Trump called on Pence to try and reject the Electoral College results.
A mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol complex that day, and Pence and lawmakers were moved to secure locations.
"We all face the judgment of history, and I believe in the fullness of time that history will hold Donald Trump accountable for the events of Jan. 6, as it will other people that were involved," Pence told Karl.
He added: "I also think the American people will also have their say. I mean, the president is now a candidate for office again, he's running for election, but as I go around the country, I'm convinced the American people have learned the lessons of that day."
Pence told Karl that he and Trump left the White House on good terms but hadn't spoken in the two years since.
"We parted amicably and respectfully, but in the months that followed, he returned to that that same rhetoric he was using before Jan. 6, rhetoric that continues much up to this day and that's why we've gone our separate ways," he said.
"They know the fact that the president's reckless words endangered people at the Capitol that day, including me and my family," Pence said of the public, "and I believe they'll factor all of that in as they make decisions going forward in this country."
While Pence has criticized Trump over the insurrection, he has sided with the former president in most other areas he could arguably challenge Trump on.
When Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury -- on charges of falsifying business records -- Pence echoed him in calling it "a politically charged prosecution" and "not what the American people want to see."
Whereas fellow presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson condemned Trump, Pence sounded similar complaints as the GOP's MAGA wing to try and delegitimize the case. He discouraged the protests the former president called for but noted the First Amendment right to peacefully assemble.
"Pence is very methodical and strategic," said Heye. "He's going to take Trump head-on on those things where, politically, he sees the best advantage -- and with an eye to history, as he's obviously trying to do."
From Indiana to Washington
Pence was born in Columbus, Indiana, to a Roman-Catholic family, one of six children to Nancy and Edward, who ran a group of gas stations and served in the Korean War.
He attended Hanover College, where he was chapter president of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and Indiana University Law School. After a time in private practice and two failed congressional bids, Pence worked as a conservative radio and TV host in Indiana before he was elected to Congress in 2000, ultimately rising to become the House Republican Conference Chair.
Following four terms in Congress and one term as governor of Indiana, Pence ended his reelection campaign in 2016 when Trump tapped him as the Republican vice presidential pick.
It was in college that Pence left the Catholic Church to become an evangelical Christian, which is likely to be a major theme of his 2024 campaign -- with Hutchinson and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott positioning for those same voters.
"Trump wasn't and will never be a series of policy positions. He's an attitude. But where the Trump administration can claim success with conservatives, Mike Pence has fingerprints all over that," Heye said. "And he remains very close with the Evangelical community, which is certainly very important in the Republican primary ... It's hard to think of anybody who would have more credibility in that community than Mike Pence."
Pence has been married to his wife, Susan, whom he fondly calls "Mother," for 37 years. They met at church and when they moved to Washington, he vowed not to dine alone with another woman. They have three adult children: Michael, Charlotte and Audrey.
He will join a fast-expanding field of 2024 GOP candidates: Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Hutchinson, Scott, Larry Elder and Steve Laffey.
Chris Christie, who was passed over for Trump's vice president in 2016 when Pence was selected, is expected to announce his own bid next week in New Hampshire, the second state on Republicans' primary calendar. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is also set to announce a bid next Wednesday.
