Former US Vice President Mike Pence has announced that he will not be supporting Donald Trump in the upcoming 2024 election. 

In an interview with Fox News, he said, "It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year." 

Pence, 64, served as vice president under Trump. The decision to not endorse Trump makes Pence the latest in a series of senior Trump administration officials who have declined to endorse their former boss's bid to return to the Oval Office.

Pence had long been seen as one of Trump's most loyal defenders.

But he broke with his former boss by refusing to go along with Trump's unconstitutional efforts to try to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.

When Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, trying to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden's win, Pence was forced to flee to a Senate loading dock as rioters chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" outside.

What did Pence say about Trump?

In the interview on Fox's "The Story with Martha MacCallum," Pence said he was "incredibly proud" of his and Trump's record in office.

But he added that there were "profound differences" between him and Trump on a raft of policies and issues. 

"I mean, as I have watched his candidacy unfold, I've seen him walking away from our commitment to confronting the national debt. I've seen him starting to shy away from a commitment to the sanctity
of human life," he went on, also referencing what he called Trump's "reversal on getting tough on China and supporting our administration's effort to force" the sale of the popular TikTok app.

"In each of these cases, Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. And that's why I cannot in conscience
endorse Donald Trump in this campaign," he said.

Although Pence refrained from disclosing his voting preference, he affirmed that it wouldn't be for Joe Biden, emphasizing his loyalty to the Republican Party.

Trump and current President Joe Biden both won enough delegates to clinch their respective parties' nominations to run for the presidency.

tg/sri (AFP, AP, Reuters)