Former Vice President Pence knocked former President Trump for skipping the second GOP primary debate in the 2024 presidential cycle, in an interview Monday.
“I think it's a missed opportunity for Donald Trump, and I think it's a missed opportunity for Republican voters,” Pence said in an interview Monday on CBS News, when asked about Trump’s decision not to attend the second debate in the GOP primary. Pence is also running for the GOP nomination in 2024.
“Look, this country is in a lot of trouble. Joe Biden has weakened America at home and abroad, and I think the former president – just like all the rest of us vying for the Republican nomination – owe it to the American people to express what our agenda will be for turning this country around,” Pence added.
Reporting on Tuesday confirmed that Trump plans to deliver a speech to autoworkers in lieu of attending next week's second GOP debate, which will be hosted by Fox Business.
Trump skipped the first Republican debate, explaining his decision at the time by pointing to his commanding lead in the race and suggesting Fox News Channel was hostile to him, so he did not want to boost its ratings.
Pence continued in the interview, saying the debate would be an opportunity for Trump to pitch a conservative agenda to voters. He referenced Trump’s comments this week against the six-week abortion ban in Florida as an example of Trump yet to put forward a conservative agenda.
“When we ran in 2016, Donald Trump promised to govern as a conservative, and we did govern as conservatives,” Pence said. “But he makes no such promise today.”
