Former US Vice-President Mike Pence has launched his bid for the presidency.
Speaking at a community college in Iowa on Wednesday, Pence accused former President Donald Trump of abandoning conservative principles.
He also accused Trump of dereliction of duty on January 6, 2021 – the day the US Capitol Building was invaded by insurrectionists.
Pence said Trump’s supporters besieged the Capitol after the former president insisted he could overturn election results.
The former vice-president, who is one of the frontrunners for the Republican ticket, also condemned Trump’s anti-conservative values and abortion stance.
He said Trump should never be re-elected for putting himself above the US constitution.
“I believe anyone that puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again,” Pence said.
“After leading the most pro-life administration in American history, Donald Trump and others in this race are retreating from the cause of the unborn.
“The sanctity of life has been our party’s calling for half a century-long before Trump was a part of it. Now he treats it as an inconvenience, even blaming our election losses in 2022 on overturning Roe v. Wade.”
Pence pledged to “restore a threshold of civility in public life,” saying the country needs leaders who know the difference between the “politics of outrage and standing firm”.
