Mike Pence's Disastrous Campaign in Pictures

Former Vice President Mike Pence announced that he is ending his short-lived presidential campaign after his bid failed to gain any real momentum or support.

Pence confirmed on Saturday during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual conference in Las Vegas that he would be suspending his campaign just over two months away from the first GOP presidential primary caucus in Iowa.

In most election cycles, a former vice president gunning for the main role in the White House would be considered a serious challenger. However, Pence had the daunting prospect of facing off against Donald Trump, who holds massive leads in primary polls because of his large and loyal base, while trying to paint himself to GOP voters as a respectable alternative to the MAGA former president.

Instead, Pence, whose relationship with Trump fell apart in the wake of the January 6 attack, failed to truly get any real support for his presidential bid. He frequently failed to get close to double digits in the GOP primary polls, and several of his campaign events were attended by sparse crowds.

There were also concerns that Pence struggling to raise funds for his 2024 campaign also meant that he would have failed to qualify for the third televised GOP primary debate in Miami, Florida, on November 8.

"It's become clear to me this is not my time," Pence said on Saturday. "We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets."

Pence, who announced his White House bid in June, appeared to favor more intimate settings during his campaign while speaking to potential voters.

However, the tactic often backfired on the former president, as pictures of Pence speaking in front of small crowds went viral on social media.

Two of the most damning photos of Pence's campaign, which were shared on X, formerly Twitter, were taken from a Politico profile which noted how the Republican "can't get a crowd of 15 to a Pizza Ranch."

The article reported on Pence speaking to just 13 people at a pizza restaurant in Red Oak, Iowa. The profile also described how around two dozen people had come to hear Pence talk at a pharmacy in Sidney, Iowa.

"I wondered, had I walked into the biggest room of Pence stans in Iowa since his June announcement?" wrote Politico's national political correspondent Adam Wren in the article published on October 21.

Elsewhere, it has been suggested that Pence, a former Indiana governor and congressman with strong Christian faith, may have damaged his presidential ambitions several years ago when he first accepted Trump's invitation to become his running mate, forcing him to essentially put some of his moral beliefs to one side.

"He got it completely wrong," Rev. Rob Schenck, an evangelical clergyman who turned on Pence when he became affiliated with Trump, told The New York Times.

"There must have come a point where Mike either thought, 'I can get the better of Donald Trump or I can rise above his immorality,'" Schenck added. "He has had to do too much accommodation and adjustment. It might have been fatal to his leadership."

Pence's office has been contacted for comment via email.

Pence became the fifth Republican to drop out of the presidential race, and is so far the biggest name to have done so.

The remaining candidates in the GOP presidential primary field are Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.