From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 28, 2023
Pence announces he’s dropping out of 2024 race, stunning crowd at RJC confab
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Former US vice president Mike Pence shocks the crowd at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual conference by announcing that he is withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race.
“The Bible tells us that there’s a time for every purpose under heaven. After traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say that it’s become clear to me that this is not my time,” Pence says, as many in the crowd gasp.
“After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” he says.
Pence vows to never stop fighting for conservative values or to elect “principled Republican leaders,” in an apparent shot at his former boss Donald Trump.
סגן הנשיא לשעבר מייק פנס מודיע על פרישה מהמירוץ לנשיאות. פנס בנאומו בפני הקואליציה היהודית רפובליקנית:
״בתנ״ך כתוב שיש זמן לכל מטרה, נסעתי ברחבי המדינה בחצי השנה האחרונה וזה ברור לי, שזה לא הזמן שלי״ pic.twitter.com/WSC6kCrMNb— יונה לייבזון yuna leibzon (@YunaLeibzon) October 28, 2023
Pence’s presidential campaign never took off and he has been polling in the low single digits for months.
Every major Republican presidential candidate is addressing the RJC conference today, including Trump, who is expected to run away with the nomination.
