EXCLUSIVE: Mike Pence's staff BANNED Don Jr from introducing the VP at rallies because the crowd gave him bigger cheers and chanted that they wanted him to run in 2024
Mike Pence's staff put a stop to him appearing on stage after Donald Trump Jr. when the president's son drew cheers for a presidential bid of his own and the vice president didn't, a new book reveals.
According to Michael C. Bender in Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, in an excerpt exclusively by DailyMail.com, Pence's staff were taken aback during a February 2020 rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, when Donald Jr. got an election chant from the packed convention center of MAGA fans and the vice president didn't.
Both men were speaking ahead of President Trump at the campaign rally at the SNHU Arena, one of the last before the COVID pandemic shut them down.
The president's son was to introduce the running mate. But Donald Jr. was kept from speaking by repeated chants of 'Forty-six! Forty-six!' - a reference to the fans wanting him to make his own presidential bid.
President Trump was the 45th president while President Joe Biden is the 46th.
Don Jr. tried to tamp down the cheers. 'One step at a time,' he said. 'Let's worry about 2020. That's all we've got to focus on, right? Let's keep winning.'
Donald Trump Jr. and Vice President Mike Pence wave during a campaign rally for President Donald Trump in Manchester, New Hampshire, on February 10, 2020
He was finally able to introduce Pence.
But there was no 'forty-six' chants for Pence despite him harboring presidential ambitions of his own.
Katie Miller, the vice president's communications director, noted the absence.
'That's funny,' she said.
After Pence left the stage, 'he made an awkward joke about the moment' to Don Junior and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the book reports.
Michael C. Bender's book 'Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost' is out July 13
Later, Marty Obst, Pence's longtime political strategist, made it known at Trump campaign headquarters that Pence was never again to follow Don Jr. onstage.
'He's just a hard act to follow,' Obst said.
The 432-page book, out July 13, details Trump's life in the White House, the two impeachment trials and Trump's failed attempt to win a second term.
The reports of tension between the Trump and Pence camps come as the former vice president ties to distance himself from Trump.
Ironically, Don Jr. bested Pence in a straw poll of conservative voters last month of their top choices for the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came out on top at the Western Conservative Summit gathering while Pence, who was known for his strong conservative support, came in near the bottom of the GOP choices, trailing Don Jr. by four points.
Don Jr. is said to harbor political ambitions and is popular on the Republican fundraising circuit. He's made no formal announcement of a future political run although there is talk he could make a gubernatorial bid in Montana or New York.
Pence and President Trump had a falling out when Trump, in the lead up to the January 6th certification of the 2020 presidential results, pressured Pence to try and stop Joe Biden's victory. Pence, who had no constitutional authority to do what Trump requested, refused to entertain the idea.
Trump railed publicly against his long loyal vice president. The MAGA rioters who stormed the Capitol were heard yelling 'Hang Mike.'
Pence, in a departure from Trump, said last week he was proud to certify the presidential election results on Jan. 6.
Speaking to a crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Thursday, Pence said it was his duty under the Constitution to certify the results, and while he made no direct mention of his former boss, he appeared to distance himself from Trump, who still disputes the results of the Electoral College tally.
'I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States,' Pence said.
He added in a sharp jab at the former president: 'The truth is, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.'
Pence appeared in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 800 at the hilltop library, as he considers a potential 2024 White House run.
Donald Trump Jr is popular on the Republican fundraising circuit and said to harbor political ambitions of his own
Speaking to a crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, former Vice President Mike Pence said that it was his duty under the Constitution to certify the results of the 2020 election, a departure from former President Donald Trump
He took a brief pause from the public stage after leaving Washington, but in late April kicked off a series of events to sharpen his conservative profile for voters more familiar with him standing in Trump’s shadow.
Although he did not dispute the results of the 2020 election, Pence did express his upset with the outcome.
'Now, I understand the disappointment many feel about the last election,' he said. 'I can relate. I was on the ballot. But you know, there's more at stake than our party and our political fortunes in this moment. If we lose faith in the Constitution, we won't just lose elections - we'll lose our country.'