Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared this week on a podcast hosted by conservative political activist Kevin Gentry.
“I think Republicans ought to do a lot of soul-searching,” said Pence.
Pence discussed his career, the role of faith in his politics and concerns for the current direction of the GOP.
“I think it’s going to be more important for us to figure out what we’re for before we decide who we’re for in the next presidential election,” the former vice president said in Monday’s podcast.
Pence served as President Donald Trump’s vice president in his first term. Although they were good friends, according to Pence, the relationship was severed when Pence certified the results of the 2020 election.
Since leaving office, Pence has remained an active pundit within the conservative movement and has begun teaching courses at George Mason University. Pence also ran an unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 2024.
Experience with Trump in first term
Pence said he was surprised when Trump tapped him to be his running mate in 2016.
While considering whether to accept the offer to run with Trump in 2016, Pence said that he “was impressed with the connection that Donald Trump was making. … He was tapping deeply into the frustration of people around the country.”
Pence also said that he and Trump agreed on what the goals of the administration should be.
“I’ll always be proud of the record of the Trump/Pence administration,” Pence said.
Pence said he developed an unexpected rapport with the president. “In those 4½ years, President Trump was not just my president, he was my friend, which made those days at the end even more difficult.”
Trump and other officials asked Pence to decertify the results of the Electoral College votes in 2020. Pence remarked that he “could never conceive that the founders would ever have intended to give any one person the power to choose the American president.”
“I hope someday that day will actually be remembered as a triumph of freedom,” said Pence of the events on Jan. 6, 2021, “As the world watched, they are going to witness the resilience of our institutions.”
Concerns for GOP’s future
When asked about where he sees the future of the Republican Party, Pence expressed concern for its direction.
Pence said that he thought some of the president’s current advisers are leading the party “far afield.” Pence cited specific concerns amount foreign policy, tariffs and abortion.
“We’ve always been the party of a strong defense and we see America as the leader of the free world,” said Pence. “There’s a rising chorus of isolationist voices in the Republican Party.”
Pence condemned Trump’s tariff policy. “We’ve always been the party of low taxes, including low tariffs and free trade,” Pence continued. “Now … we witness the president impose unilateral tariffs on friend and foe alike.”
Pence also said that the issue that concerned him most was the administration’s stance on abortion.
“We have voices from the administration on down that are marginalizing the right to life in our party, suggesting that it’s only a state issue,” Pence said.
“I think Republicans face a new time of choosing,” Pence said. “Whether we’re going to stay on the path of the traditional, conservative principles that have always defined our party … or whether we’re going to follow the siren song of populism.”