As speculation continues to swirl about when he might announce his own bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, former Vice President Mike Pence took a shot at his potential opponent, President Joe Biden, and the probes surrounding the first son's foreign business dealings during a Friday appearance on Fox Business.

Pence's comments came during an interview with host Maria Bartiromo, and the former VP held little back when discussing the family scandals surrounding President Joe Biden and the congressional investigations looking into them.

Pence lets loose

Bartiromo sought Pence's take on the work being done by House Republicans to explore Hunter Biden's links to business interests in China and Ukraine and to determine whether the president was or is currently compromised in some way because of them.

Pence responded by saying, “The American people deserve to know what was going on here. They deserve to hold this president and this administration accountable.”

The younger Biden has been the subject of intense scrutiny and exposure going back to the 2020 election, when his infamously abandoned laptop computer revealed all kinds of sordid details about his life and dealings, and now that the GOP has reclaimed control of the House, attention has turned to what some say are his sketchy business associations abroad.

For his part, Pence indicated that he cannot quite put himself in President Biden's shoes with regard to the ongoing investigations, saying, “I can't really relate. I mean, when I was vice president, my son wasn't sitting on the board of foreign corporations. He was sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet, serving the United States in the Marine Corps.”

Talking 2024

During their chat, Pence also explained to Bartiromo that he has by no means ruled out the possibility of a 2024 run for the White House.

Echoing statements he has made in recent months, Pence told the Mornings with Maria host, “With regard to me and my family, I tell you, we continue to give prayerful consideration to entering the national race, we're getting a lot of encouragement around the country.”

If Pence does decide to enter the race, he would immediately become an opponent of former President Donald Trump, who declared his candidacy late last year, but that prospect does not appear to deter the former VP.

“I honestly believe the American people are ready for change, and they're ready to get back to the policies that we advanced in the Trump-Pence administration,” said Pence. “I really do believe the country's in a lot of trouble, and now more than ever, all of us need to reflect very deeply on what we can do individually and what we can do collectively to put America back on the right path.”

Making moves

Pence has not been shy about making the typical rounds of someone contemplating a presidential bid, appearing last weekend in the key primary state of Iowa, as Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.

The trip was Pence's second to the Hawkeye State this year, with the first being a joint appearance with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in Cedar Rapids.

During his speech in DesMoines, Pence took aim at the possible indictment of Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, characterizing it as “politically motivated” and “troubling.”

“The idea of indicting a former president of the United States is deeply troubling to me as it is to tens of millions of Americans and, particularly, happening in what appears to be a politically charged environment in New York where the Attorney General and other elected officials literally campaigned on a pledge to prosecute [former President Trump],” Pence added.

No promises

Despite the aforementioned criticism of the possible indictment of Trump, Pence declined earlier this month to commit his support to the former president should he secure the 2024 Republican nomination, as the Washington Examiner reported.

Asked specifically if he would back Trump against the eventual Democratic nominee, Pence demurred, saying, “Well, I think we'll have better choices, and I really trust Republican voters to sort it out.”

“I just have great confidence in the American people. I don't think anyone could have defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 other than Donald Trump. And I didn't realize that initially – I was supporting another candidate in the Indiana primary,” Pence added, though he appeared to believe that the landscape has since changed significantly.

All of those considerations aside, Pence's frequent public appearances at high-profile events – including an upcoming speech at the National Rifle Association convention in April – point to an imminent decision about his own future, which he said recently would be made together with his wife Karen, “by springtime.”