Fox News anchor Shannon Bream asked former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday about his faltering poll numbers in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Pence, who served as vice president from 2017 to 2021 under Donald Trump, is among the Republicans running to beat the former president in the GOP primary. But his campaign has thus far struggled to breakthrough into the polls. Pence broke from Trump and many conservatives by refusing to support the unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen via widespread voter fraud. His stance on the election has risked aliening conservative voters, but he stands by his actions, saying during the first GOP presidential primary debate in August that he chose the Constitution instead of overturning the election based on those unfounded election theories.
A new Wall Street Journal poll, conducted among 600 Republican primary voters from August 24 to 30, found that only 2 percent of voters said they planned to vote for Pence. Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie all polled above the former vice president. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Bream, the anchor of Fox News Sunday, confronted Pence about these poll numbers during his interview appearance on the program.
"Brand new polling out of the Wall Street Journal has you in sixth place this morning, and a number of analysts note that you're running to convince millions of GOP voters who may not like you," she said. "...Why take on this fight when the numbers show almost no scenario in which you can grab this nomination?"
During the interview, Bream referenced recent articles about his polling numbers, including an August 31 New York Times article questioning, "If a majority—or at least a strong plurality—of Republican primary voters believe the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, how can the man who certified it secure their support?" and an August 15 piece in The Atlantic that asks "Why does he think the people who wanted to kill him will vote for him?"
Pence responded by saying that the polls are "just not what I'm seeing on the ground" while campaigning in early-voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire.
"I've spent the better part of last week in Iowa. I'll be back in New Hampshire tomorrow. The encouragement that we're getting on the ground—frankly, our canvassers in Iowa have me running pretty consistently second in that state, tell us that there's plenty of time between now and the Iowa caucuses and when these primaries get under way," Pence said. "We're just going to continue to take our message, my lifetime in the conservative movement, and offer a fresh vision for the Republican Party and for America."
Newsweek reached out to Pence's campaign for comment via email.
WATCH: @Mike_Pence joins the show to discuss his poll numbers, debate performance and his campaigns strategy heading into the fall. pic.twitter.com/4bBLr0W6xr
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) September 3, 2023
What Polls Say About Mike Pence's 2024 Chances
The Wall Street Journal poll is not the only recent survey to deliver challenging poll numbers to Pence. A YouGov/The Economist poll conducted from August 26 to 29 among 520 voters similarly found that only 3 percent of primary voters planned to back Pence. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
Both polls showed Trump maintaining a major lead over his other opponents. Fifty-two percent of voters said they planned to vote for him in the YouGov poll, while he secured support from 59 percent in the Wall Street Journal poll.
FiveThirtyEight's aggregate of recent polls shows Pence averaging support from 4.2 percent of Republican primary voters, putting him in fifth place. Here is a look at where other candidates stand as of September 3, per that average.
- Trump leads with 51.4 percent of support.
- DeSantis remains in second place with 14.5 percent of the vote.
- Ramaswamy received 8.7 percent of
- Haley has the backing of 5.9 percent of Republican voters.
- Other candidates such as Christie, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson received less than 4 percent of support.
