Young Conservatives Applaud as Pence Sidesteps Question on Voting for Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence drew applause at a talk sponsored by a conservative student group after giving a noncommittal answer when asked if he would vote for Donald Trump if he's the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

Pence bypassed addressing the fissure between him and Trump after giving a speech Wednesday night hosted by the conservative Young America's Foundation at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Since leaving office in 2021, Trump has disparaged his former vice president for not overturning the 2020 election. As questions linger over whether the scandal-plagued Trump can secure enough Republican support for a third presidential run, Pence indicated he's a maybe.

Fielding questions after giving a speech titled "The future of the Conservative Movement," Pence was asked directly by a student if he would vote for his old boss if he's at the top of the Republican ticket in 2024. The question filled the auditorium with uneasy laughter as Pence pondered his response.

"Well, there might be somebody else I'd prefer more," replied Pence. He then paused as the crowd applauded, before continuing.

"What I can tell you is I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership," he said. "All my focus has been on the midterm elections, and it'll stay that way for the next 20 days. But after that, we'll be thinking about the future: ours and the nation's, and I'll keep you posted."

After losing his 2020 reelection, Trump pressured Pence to go along with a plan for Pence to throw out electoral votes for then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden while overseeing Congress' certification of the election. Legal experts have criticized the plan as dubious, and Pence has said he didn't have the constitutional authority to block electoral votes from being certified.

Since leaving office, Pence has continued to give speeches and dropped hints that he might be considering a presidential run while Trump has continued to fume about his vice president thwarting his plan to stay in power. In the run-up to the 2022 midterms, the gap between Pence and Trump continued to grow with the two endorsing competing Republican primary candidates in Georgia and Arizona.

Pence earlier on Wednesday also criticized factions of the Republican Party during a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., calling on the country to resist "the siren song of unprincipled populism that's unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values," reported the Associated Press.

The former vice president also used the speech to call out "Putin apologists" as members of the Republican Party have questioned U.S. support for Ukraine against the Russian leader.

Speaking at Georgetown, Pence said there are "two kinds of people in Washington, D.C.: people that are called and people that are driven."

"I've been both," said Pence, adding that he wasn't sure what his future holds but would reflect with his wife Karen, and follow their "calling" in the months ahead.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump for comment.