The rival campaign events held by the former president and vice-president are turning the governor’s race in Arizona into a broader referendum on the Republican Party’s future
Former President Donald Trump and his estranged vice-president, Mike Pence, will hold rival campaign events in Arizona on Friday, turning the governor’s race into a broader referendum on the Republican Party’s future.
Trump and Pence have occasionally taken different sides in primaries this year, but this is the first time that they will have appeared in the same state on the same day to rally for their preferred candidates. The split-screen moment marks a more confrontational phase in their relationship as they both consider running for president in 2024.
“Mike Pence let me down,” an unidentified White House employee testified Trump telling him at the end of the day on Jan. 6. Arizona, a long-time Republican stronghold whose move toward the centre accelerated during Trump’s presidency, was central Trump’s push to remain in power despite his loss. Trump pressed state officials to block the certification of Biden’s victory and, when he failed, his allies in Congress objected to counting the state’s 11 electoral votes.