OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Vice President Mike Pence is quietly at work behind the scenes, laying the groundwork to build a Republican Party that moves on from his onetime boss and running mate, Donald Trump.
Semafor reports that “Pence stuck his head up this week to take a whack at Trumpism, urging Republicans to reject ‘protectionist tariffs’ and ‘isolationism’ while ‘unashamedly’ recommitting to anti-abortion positions.”
The former vice president is preparing for a party that can transition away from Donald Trump’s populism and protectionism after the election. This involves occasionally being a rare voice of public dissent while also working behind the scenes to recruit allies who may be more receptive to joining him on particular policy or political battles, Semafor noted, citing a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“We’re trying to plant a flag for conservatism and believe that many of our traditional conservative groups have become far more enamored with populism these days and walked away from those principles,” Marc Short, Pence’s longtime advisor, told Semafor.
The former vice president’s Wall Street Journal op-ed, which subtly critiques Trump’s policy priorities, offers just a glimpse into Pence’s broader vision as he awaits the outcome of the 2024 election. However, Semafor posed, the looming question for Pence remains: Does he still have a place in today’s GOP?
Even his supporters are not sure. Pence doesn’t fit into “the Republican party of today,” said retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who also has no place in the party under Trump. “The Republican Party of tomorrow may be a different matter.”
Semafor added:
After incurring Donald Trump’s wrath for certifying the 2020 election, Pence’s platform of traditional conservatism failed to move GOP voters in his presidential campaign. Yet the former vice president, governor, and member of House leadership — who was key to helping expand Trump’s coalition in 2016 — remains concerned about the direction of the party, and he’s been making moves to cultivate like-minded supporters.
Pence faces a tough road back: He doesn’t have the same rabid fan base as other leaders in the party — his presidential run confirmed that. As Trump-aligned Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley put it: “If you run for president and lose, it’s hard to maintain influence.”
Pence has also been criticized by Trump allies for his perceived “disloyalty” to the former president. However, he maintains long-standing relationships with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and activists nationwide. While his influence may not always be loud, he is still well-respected among a steady faction of the Republican Party.
Pence is embracing this role and, with the assistance of his organization, Advancing American Freedom (AAF), aims to serve as the GOP’s “conscience,” as described by the group’s president, Tim Chapman. This initiative is encouraging for the faction of Republicans who, like Pence, feel marginalized by the party’s populist direction.
“There’s room for his voice and the voices of others for this reason: Our party is, at this point, mostly a political coalition in search of a clear policy agenda,” said Sen. Todd Young, from Pence’s home state of Indiana, a Republican who has not endorsed Trump. “At some point, we’re going to have to gravitate around a clear policy agenda … And Mike Pence is very well equipped to do that.”
After briefly running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Pence announced in July that he would not be supporting Trump this time, stating that the former president’s policies are not conservative enough.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. I’m incredibly proud of the record of our administration. It was a conservative record that made America more prosperous, more secure, and saw conservatives appointed to our courts in a more peaceful world,” Pence said on Fox News.
Pence also said that Trump was evading his conservative bona fides this time around, such as being committed to lowering the debt and the “sanctity of human life.”
He further remarked that Trump’s recent statements regarding China and his stance against banning TikTok in the U.S. represent a significant shift from his previous strong opposition to the Chinese-controlled social media platform during his presidency.
