Pence's Launch Video Puts Biden on Blast—Not Trump

Mike Pence filed his paperwork to enter the 2024 race on Tuesday and followed up with a launch video on Wednesday. One thing that stands out to the Hill is that the nearly 3-minute video does not directly mention former President Trump or feature an image of Pence's former boss. Pence says the "country is in trouble" but puts the blame on "President Biden and the radical left," citing economic and immigration policies, along with an "assault" on "timeless American values," per Politico.

“We can turn this country around, but different times call for different leadership,” Pence says. “Today our party and our country need a leader that will appeal, as Lincoln said, to ‘the better angels of our nature.’” Fox News sees that line as an "apparent swipe" at Trump, who has vilified Pence for the latter's refusal to try to block certification of the 2020 election results. Politico notes that Pence is hoping to score with evangelical voters in Iowa, and he hit that theme as well: "God is not done with America," Pence says. "The best days for the greatest nation on Earth are yet to come." Pence will stage a campaign rally in Iowa later Wednesday, which happens to be his 64th birthday, and have a CNN town hall Wednesday night. (More Mike Pence 2024 stories.)