Pence to visit South Carolina as state becomes hot spot for potential GOP 2024 candidates

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Former Vice President Mike Pence says positive response to autobiography ‘great source of encouragement’ as he mulls 2024 bid

Pence made his comments in an interview with Fox News Digital on Dec. 12, 2022, in Bedford, New Hampshire

Former Vice President Mike Pence, a likely 2024 Republican presidential contender, will take part Monday in a law enforcement roundtable in South Carolina, the state that holds the third contest in the GOP’s presidential nominating calendar.

Aides to the former vice president confirm to Fox News that Pence will attend a local law enforcement roundtable discussion in Charleston, South Carolina, as he meets with sheriffs and police officers from across the state.

Pence’s visit comes as Congress renews efforts to pass police reform legislation after five officers were accused of killing 29-year-old Black man Tyre Nichols last month in Memphis, Tennessee. Video showed Nichols being beaten by the officers. A Pence aide said the former vice president aims to "push back on the restored 'Defund the Police' movement that's sweeping across the country."

The trip will be Pence’s ninth to the Palmetto State since the end of former President Donald Trump’s administration. The former vice president has crisscrossed the country the past two years, helping fellow Republicans who ran in the 2022 midterms. Those trips brought him numerous times to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada, the first four states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

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Former Vice President Mike Pence signs copies of his new autobiography "So Help Me God," at a book signing on Dec. 12, 2022 in Bedford, New Hampshire.  (Fox News)

Pence will be in Charleston nine days before former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, is expected to declare her candidacy for president at an event on Feb. 15 in Charleston, according to multiple sources.

SOURCES: HALEY TO LAUNCH 2024 CAMPAIGN ON FEB. 15 IN SOUTH CAROLINA

Haley will head directly to New Hampshire for two days of campaigning after she launches her bid in South Carolina.

Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the United Nations, during the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.  (Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The day after Haley is expected to announce, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will be in Charleston to kick off his "Faith in America" listening tour.

FIRST ON FOX: SEN. TIM SCOTT TO LAUNCH 2024 LISTENING TOUR 

As Fox News first reported, that tour will also take him to Iowa on Feb. 22. Scott, who appears to be moving towards launching his own White House run, has led police reform negotiations in the Senate for Republicans.

On Monday, January 30, 2023, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., spoke on the Senate Floor following the release of footage showing Memphis police's fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.  (CSPAN)

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Trump, to date, is the only major Republican to formally launch a presidential campaign.