Former Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Iowa later this month amid rumors that he plans to run for president in 2024.
The former vice president will support conservative candidates and organizations in Des Moines and Cumming on August 19 ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
Pence will be the special guest in Des Moines at a lunch supporting Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and later that day, Grassley and Pence will join Iowa Republicans at the Iowa State Fair. Pence will also make an appearance at the Central Iowa House Party supporting the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition.
The following day, Pence will deliver remarks in Waverly at Bremer County’s Annual Summer Grill and Chill Fundraiser with Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) and State Representative Sandy Salmon (R-Janesville).
The Iowa visit comes after both Pence and former President Donald Trump offered more hints at 2024 presidential runs on the same day in separate speeches in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 26: Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Young Americas Foundation Student Conference on July 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
“I couldn’t be more proud of the record of the Trump/Pence administration,” Pence said, responding to a question about his relationship with Trump at the Young America’s Foundation conference in July. “And for four years, we advanced the policies that I just described, without apology.”
“I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity to serve as vice president,” he continued. “I don’t know that our movement is that divided. I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues. But we may differ on focus.”
Pence emphasized that he believes “elections are about the future.”
“It’s absolutely essential at a time when so many Americans are hurting, so many families are struggling, that we don’t give way to the temptation to look back,” Pence said. “I think the time has come for us to offer a bold, positive agenda to bring America back. And I’ll continue to carry that message all across this nation.”
Pence has previously visited Independence, Cedar Rapids, and Carroll, Iowa in support of Iowa Republicans Randy Feenstra (R-IA 4th District), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA 2nd District), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA 1st District), and he has spoken at multiple summits and dinners in the state over the past year.
Trump, meanwhile, promised the American First Policy Institute summit that “this November, the people are going to vote to stop the destruction of our country, and they’re going to vote to rescue America’s future.”
“I’m here before you to begin to talk about what we must do to achieve that future when we win a triumphant victory in 2022 and when a Republican president takes back the White House in 2024, which I strongly believe will happen,” he added to applause.
He later referred to the 2020 election, saying that he had won a “second time,” adding amid strong applause, “That’s going to be a story for a long time, what a disgrace it was, but we may just have to do it again. We have to straighten out our country.”