Atlanta (AFP) – Sixteen months after the US Capitol was sacked by a pro-Trump mob chanting “hang Mike Pence,” the target of its fury is making nice with the Republican right — and hinting at a bid to rival his old boss for the 2024 presidential nomination. The former vice president has begun setting aside years of unswervingly loyalty to Donald Trump and is showing a newly defiant, independent side as he looks increasingly likely to mount a challenge for the White House. It has been a torrid sabbatical for the 62-year-old evangelical Christian, who became a pariah in Trumpworld after rejecti…