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Top Republican Drops Out Of 2024 Race

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What now?

On Friday, Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State, announced that he will not be running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

During an interview with Fox News, Pompeo, who has been a staunch ally and defender of Donald Trump, declined to enter a contest that would have pitted him against his former commander in chief.

Pompeo explained, “The time is not right for me and my family. At each stage of my public service — as a soldier, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and then as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and as your Secretary of State — I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to advance America in a way that fit the time and the moment. This is not that time or that moment for me to seek elected office again.”

Although Pompeo has opted out of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race, he left the possibility of a future run open.

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He explained, “To those of you this announcement disappoints, my apologies. And to those of you this thrilled, know that I’m 59 years old. There remain many more opportunities for which the timing might be more fitting as presidential leadership becomes even more necessary.”

If Pompeo had entered the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, he would have been the second former Trump Cabinet member to challenge the former president, following former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who announced her campaign in February. Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly considering entering the race and has recently increased his travel and activity in early-voting primary and caucus states.

Apart from Pompeo, Haley, Ramaswamy, and Hutchinson, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has also launched a presidential exploratory committee as he weighs the possibility of a presidential bid in 2024.

President Joe Biden has indicated that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, which reduces the likelihood of any significant challenges to his nomination for the Democratic Party.

Unlike Haley and Pence, who have publicly expressed differences with Trump, Pompeo has not had any known public disagreements with the former president and has not been rebuked by Trump, unlike some of his potential rivals. Pompeo has even recently referred to Trump as a “great boss.”