简体中文
US Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday denied that he is
preparing for a presidential election run in 2020, saying the
suggestion is "disgraceful and offensive."
Pence was
responding to a New York Times report that some Republicans were moving
to form a "shadow campaign" as though President Donald Trump were not
involved. It said multiple advisers to Pence "have already intimated to
party donors that he would plan to run if Mr. Trump did not."
The
report said Pence had not only kept a full political calendar but also
had created his own independent power base, including a political
fund-raising group called the "Great America Committee."
(US
Vice President Mike Pence gives a speech during Adriatic Charter Summit
in Podgorica, Montenegro, August 2, 2017. /Reuters Photo)
But
Pence called the article "fake news" and said his entire team was
focused on advancing Trump's agenda and seeing him re-elected in 2020.
"The
allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just
the latest attempt by the media to divide this Administration," Pence
said in a statement.
The Times stood by its coverage.
"We are confident in the accuracy of our reporting and will let the
story speak for itself," New York Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha
said in an email.
Pence has good relations with
conservative political groups and some of the Republican Party's big
donors, including billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
He
is also a Trump loyalist, and there is typically little distinction
between his public statements and the policies of the president.
(US
President Donald Trump (L) and Vice President Mike Pence attend a
National Day of Prayer event at the Rose Garden of the White House in
Washington, DC, US, May 4, 2017. /Reuters Photo)
But
as investigations deepen into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016
US election and possible ties to members of Trump's campaign, Pence has
put some distance between himself and the president on the best way to
approach Moscow.
On a trip to Eastern Europe last
week, Pence condemned Russia's presence in the former Soviet republic of
Georgia, with which Moscow fought a brief war in 2008. He also said
ties with Russia would not improve until Moscow changed its stance on
Ukraine and withdrew support for countries like Iran, Syria and the
DPRK.
The US Congress recently passed a bill imposing
new sanctions on Russia with overwhelming bipartisan support, but Trump
signed it into law last week with reluctance.
"Our
relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low,"
Trump wrote on Twitter after signing the bill. "You can thank Congress."
Trump
has described probes into his campaign's ties to Russia, including
those under way in Congress and a Justice Department investigation
headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as a "witch hunt."
(US
Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Second Lady Karen Pence wave from US
Air Force Two as they arrive in Podgorica, Montenegro, August 1, 2017.
/Reuters Photo)
The president has also sent
mixed messages on whether he agrees with US intelligence agencies'
conclusions that Russia tried to intervene in the 2016 election to boost
his chances of beating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
White
House Senior Counselor Kellyanne Conway on Sunday also dismissed the
idea that Pence was looking at running for president in 2020.
"It
is absolutely true that the vice president is getting ready for 2020 –
for re-election as vice president," Conway told ABC's "This Week" on
Sunday.
"Vice President Pence is a very loyal, very
dutiful, but also incredibly effective vice president, and active vice
president," said Conway, adding that she had worked for Pence for a
decade as his pollster and senior adviser.
