Pence Is Asked Whether He'd Vote for Trump

Mike Pence spoke at Georgetown University on Wednesday night, and an audience member asked him a blunt question: If Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, will Pence vote for him? The former VP paused, then drew laughter with his response: "There might be somebody else I'd prefer more," he said, per Axios. In other words, Pence ducked the question while dropping another hint that he's considering a 2024 run himself. (See video of the moment.)

"What I can tell you is, I have every confidence that the Republican Party is going to sort out leadership," Pence said after the laughter, per NBC News. "All my focus has been on the midterm elections, and it'll stay that way for the next 20 days. But after that, we'll be thinking about the future, ours and the nation's, and I'll keep you posted." As Adela Suliman of the Washington Post notes, this was "possibly the heaviest hint yet" that Pence might indeed run.

In an analysis at CNN, Chris Cillizza writes that Pence also dropped a hint in a speech that preceded the Q&A about what kind of campaign he would run. Pence warned that conservatives cannot "allow our movement to be led astray by the siren song of unprincipled populism that's unmoored from our oldest traditions and most cherished values." It's a clear warning about Trump, writes Cillizza, who adds that he's skeptical that such a message will resonate in the current GOP. (More Mike Pence stories.)