• Former President Donald Trump has said that Mike Pence will not be his running mate should he run for the presidency again in 2024.
• “Mike committed political suicide,” Trump opined while speaking to Peter Baker and Susan Glassner.
• Trump is expected by many observers to launch a third campaign for the presidency in 2024.

Former President Donald Trump said it “would be totally inappropriate” for former Vice President Mike Pence to be his running mate should he run for the presidency again in 2024, according to an interview released Wednesday.

“Mike committed political suicide,” Trump said during the interview, conducted by New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker Staff Writer Susan Glassner for their upcoming book – The Divider – about the Trump presidency. The Guardian obtained an advanced copy of the book, due to be published on Sept. 20.

Trump’s claims stem from Pence’s rejection of pressure from Trump to not certify the Electoral College votes of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia – which President Joe Biden won in the 2020 presidential election – sent to Congress under provisions of the 12th Amendment.

Pence, as Vice President and ex-officio President of the Senate, was the presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress that convened to certify the electoral votes of states, the final constitutional step before then-President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris could be sworn into office.

As Trump sought to contest the results of the election, a legal theory was proposed by Trump’s allies that Pence could reject the states’ electoral votes, even if a formal objection was not sustained by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The theory was overwhelmingly dismissed by legal experts.

A federal lawsuit filed by Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas that sought to overturn the Electoral Count Act as unconstitutional, using the 12th Amendment and Trump’s theory as an argument, was denied review by the Supreme Court.

Break: SCOTUS spurns Sidney Powell case Gohmert v. Pence. Order: pic.twitter.com/4HHq5bAAwf

— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) January 7, 2021

Despite the advice of legal experts, Trump called on Pence to reject the states’ votes in accordance with his wishes. Presumably, this would have left the Electoral College of both candidates below the required 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, thereby submitting the election to the House of Representatives under the 12th Amendment’s provisions. The last time a president was elected by the House under this law was in 1824 when John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson.

Pence, in advance of the scheduled joint session on Jan. 6, 2021, sent a letter to all Members of Congress claiming that he lacked the authority that Trump and Powell suggested. This outraged Trump and his supporters.

“If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election,” Trump said at a Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse. “If he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country because you’re sworn to uphold our Constitution.”

Trump supporters later stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the Joint Session for many hours. Many protesters were heard chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” while a gallows was erected on the Capitol grounds.

After the count had been completed, Trump was later impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives and acquitted by the Senate following the expiration of his term.

It is expected by many allies of Trump that he will seek the presidency in 2024. 53% of GOP voters would back Trump in a 2024 Republican presidential primary, a June MorningConsult poll showed. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida came in second at 16%. Pence, who has also been mentioned as a potential candidate, placed third with 13%. The poll had a margin of error of 4%.

Baker, Glassner, and Pence have not responded to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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