Republican Mike Pence drops out of US presidential race

Former U.S. vice president Mike Pence dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Saturday, saying it was not "my time" — and underlining his scandal-embroiled previous boss Donald Trump's total dominance of the Republican Party.

The timing was a surprise.

Pence got a warm reception when he stepped up to speak at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, only to cause a shock by using the occasion to become the first major 2024 candidate to suspend his campaign.

"It's become clear to me: this is not my time," Pence said. "After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president."

The setting, perhaps, was unexpected. But the eventual demise of Pence's bid to be chosen to take on President Joe Biden next year had only seemed a matter of time.

For four years, he stood out for unquestioning loyalty to Trump, even as the White House lurched through impeachment, ethics scandals, and a dizzying rate of turnover among senior staff.

But when Trump pressured Pence to go one step further — helping to overturn the legitimate win by Biden in the 2020 election — the long-submissive deputy stood firm.

That defiance, which saw enraged pro-Trump supporters chanting "hang Mike Pence" as they stormed the Capitol to stop certification of the election on January 6, 2021, immediately made the devout Christian a pariah to the far-right.

With Trump bouncing back from what many thought would have been a career-ending episode, then seemingly brushing off a series of criminal indictments in his post-presidential life, Pence's hopes of building a new career of his own were doomed.

Despite national name recognition and years of experience in Washington, his campaign was...