Mike Pence blasts former boss Donald Trump as he opens campaign to run for US president

Pence has spent much of the past two-and-a-half-years obliquely criticising Mr Trump, trying to navigate his political future in a party that has been transformed in Trump’s image

Mike Pence has criticised the former president Donald Trump as he launched his campaign (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Former US vice president Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president on Wednesday with a firm denunciation of former president Donald Trump, accusing his two-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on January 6 2021.

Mr Pence, launching his campaign in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, became the first vice president in modern history to challenge the president under whom he served.