Former Vice President Mike Pence was in New Hampshire’s state capital of Concord Friday, officially filing for the state’s presidential primary next February.
In remarks to the press following the signing of the paperwork, Pence slammed his former running mate, former President Donald Trump, for lashing out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days after Hamas’ deadly attack.
Trump at a rally Wednesday night said Netanyahu “let us down” just before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
He also said Israeli leaders needed to “step up their game” and referred to Hezbollah, the group Israel fears may launch a large-scale attack from the country’s north, as “very smart.”
Speaking to reporters, Pence chastised the former president for being “reckless and irresponsible.”
“To refer to the terrorist organization Hezbollah as ’very smart,’ I think is incomprehensible to me,” Pence said. “Hezbollah is not very smart. They’re evil and they’re waiting across that border in Lebanon to see if America and the allies of Israel will shrink from this moment.”
Pence joined other Republican presidential candidates, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and North Dakota Gov. Doug Bergum in denouncing Trump’s remarks.
Pence was in New Hampshire as he announced he will skip the Nevada caucuses run by the state Republican Party, which has adopted rules that critics say favor former President Donald Trump.
Nevada holds a prominent place in the 2024 nominating contests as the third state, following Iowa and New Hampshire, to weigh in on the GOP field next year.
Pence has faced a steep challenge in the GOP primary, with Trump maintaining a solid grip on the party. Many Trump supporters view the former vice president as disloyal for failing to go along with the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump is now facing criminal charges in two jurisdictions over those efforts.
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