It’s been a rough week for former Vice President Mike Pence, as he prepares to face the first GOP presidential debate in the coming weeks.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash this week, Pence revealed that his campaign has yet to meet the individual donor threshold required to qualify for the Fox News hosted event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We’re making incredible progress towards that goal,” Pence told Bash when asked how close he was to meeting the 40,000-donor requirement. “We’re not there yet, but I promise you when we know, you will know.”
In order to be eligible for the upcoming Republican presidential debate in August, candidates must meet certain requirements.
This includes having at least 40,000 unique donors from more than 20 states or territories and pledging their support for whoever ends up being chosen as the eventual nominee of the party.
Pence is careful to note that he is not offering any incentives or kickbacks of any kind for people donating money – such tactics are being used by other 2024 GOP contenders instead.
However as things stand now his campaign still doesn’t have enough funds on hand to take part in the debate.
As if things weren’t bad enough already this month, Pence had difficulty answering a very pointed question posed by former Fox News star Tucker Carlson during an Iowa based candidate forum attended by 2024 hopefuls recently.
The outspoken right winger wanted answers about what exactly happened on January 6th 2021 during a fateful day at Capitol Hill which saw Trump and many of his supporters turn against him due to events which unfolded that day.
Pence took a deep breath before thanking organizers of the event before eventually responding: “Now as to that day let me just say: All I know for sure, having lived through it at the Capitol, is that it was a tragic day”.
He went on further mentioning “the tragic loss of life” – likely referring here directly to Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt who was shot and killed while attempting to breach one of doors leading into House chamber on Capitol Hill – without ever actually using word ‘insurrection’.
