The disgraced former Vice President Mike Pence has sought public funding to help bail out his embarrassing presidential campaign.
According to a report from The New York Times, Pence sought public funds last December after realizing that his campaign could no longer meet its obligations.
The report states:
Former Vice President Mike Pence sought public financing for his failed presidential primary campaign, a highly unusual move that if successful would make him the first Republican in more than a decade to receive such funds, according to Federal Election Commission documents that have not previously been disclosed.
Starting in the post-Watergate era, the federal government has allowed presidential candidates to apply for and receive public dollars. But the program has become all but obsolete as it imposes strict spending limits on anyone who participates, at a time when the cost of nationwide campaigning has skyrocketed. Even applying for the money is generally seen as a sign of desperation because the limits of the program are so onerous.
The Times also found that Pence’s campaign has well over a million dollars in unpaid debts:
Mr. Pence’s campaign committee had more than $1.3 million in unpaid debts as of the end of March, federal records show. Qualifying for public funds now would presumably help him pay down those bills.
A spokesman for Mr. Pence did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not clear why Mr. Pence’s request for public funds last fall had not yet been acted upon. On Tuesday, the Federal Election Commission posted an eligibility report from its audit division of the request, as well as a memorandum from its general counsel’s office about the matter. A discussion is on the agenda for a commission meeting on Thursday.
Despite raising over $5 million from an array of establishment and anti-Trump donors, Pence’s campaign was a catastrophic failure that underlined his status as a pariah among the conservative grassroots.
After launching his campaign on an explicitly anti-Trump platform, Pence actively boasted about how he had fufilled his constitutional duty by certifying the 2020 presidential election results despite massive evidence of widespread voter fraud.
However, things did not go to plan and he pulled out the race just four months after announcing his campaign when it became clear he did not even qualify for the Republican primary debates.
Since then, Pence has refused to support Donald Trump’s return to the White House, providing a defacto endorsement for more years of Joe Biden.