Mike Pence Wants Everyone to Know That He's Not Running for President in 2020

President Donald Trump hasn’t even been in the Oval Office for a year yet, but the past few months have been big reminders that another presidential election is just around the corner...three years away. Former Vice President Joe Biden has teased a 2020 run, while President Trump has already held events for his second campaign season. According to HuffPost, someone who seems adamant not to run is Vice President Mike Pence, who strongly denied a New York Times piece listing him as a potential Republican candidate in 2020.

Earlier this week, the Times called Pence’s schedule so packed that “Republicans joke that he is acting more like a second-term vice president hoping to clear the field than a No. 2 sworn in a little over six months ago.” Given Trump’s low approval ratings and his ever-changing staff, the Times claimed that these aspects have inspired Republicans to seek future candidates remarkably early in a presidential term. Despite the president’s premature campaigning, some Republican sources felt unsure about whether or not he’d pursue a second term. The article also singled out Vice President Pence as going one step further than most VPs when it comes to his networking and political work.

In a statement to reporters, Pence called the article “fake news” and “disgraceful and offensive.” “The allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration,” he wrote. “Whatever fake news may come our way, my entire team will continue to focus all our efforts to advance the President’s agenda and see him re-elected in 2020. Any suggestion otherwise is both laughable and absurd.”

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also denied the Times’ claim, saying on ABC’s This Week of Pence, “I’ve worked with him for 10 years as his pollster, as a senior adviser, and certainly work with him daily in the White House. It is absolutely true that the vice president is getting ready for 2020—for re-election as vice president.”

It seems that this incident is an even greater hint that we should expect Trump and Pence in full force during the next campaign season.