Pence blasts Trump’s approach as ‘populism’ over ‘conservatism’ in blistering speech
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence ripped Donald Trump — and fellow Republicans who support his ex-boss — in blistering back-to-back speeches Wednesday against the “siren song of populism.”
Pence, 64, cautioned that the Republican Party has a choice to make: Does it stay true to its “time-honored” conservative values or does it follow the rising populist movement spearheaded by former President Donald Trump.
Trump, 77, and others departed from the once-heralded conservative values of the GOP to appease the whims of the everyday man, Pence said in brutal critiques at two speaking events in New Hampshire.
“I mean, frankly, my former running mate and other candidates for the Republican nomination are beginning to move away from that conservative agenda, abandoning American leadership on the world stage,” the 64-year-old said during an early afternoon SiriusXM Town Hall at New England College.
Though he did not mention other candidates by name, the former veep has been particularly critical this campaign cycle of entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, who is considered the most avid supporter of Trump in the 2024 presidential race — aside from Trump himself.
At this fork-in-the-road time in GOP politics — with a frontrunner who has a fanatic support base Pence believes can be out of touch with conservatism — the 2024 hopeful said Republicans must decide whether to “offer the American people a candidate and a standard bearer that will carry forward the common sense, conservative agenda … or [if it] will follow the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles.”
Populism by itself contains no inherent political stances, according to its political science definition. Instead, it is a term that describes an approach politicians take to appeal to everyday Joes who feel that their concerns are ignored by established elites and is often seen in “us vs. them” campaign rhetoric.
Offering himself as an example of the former, Pence listed such conservative values as prioritizing “a strong national defense, American leadership in the world, fiscal responsibility and pro-growth policies [and] a commitment to traditional values and liberties in life.”
Later, Pence doubled down on his argument in a 2 p.m. speech at New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
“Donald Trump, along with his populist followers and imitators — some of whom are also seeking the Republican presidential nomination — often sound like an echo of the progressive they would replace in the White House,” Pence charged in his speech.
“The Republican Party did not begin on a golden escalator in 2015,” he added, referencing Trump’s glitzy arrival to announce his first presidential run at Trump Tower in New York.
For as much as he raged against Trumpism, Pence addressed the fact that he had once been on the same ticket as the former president, saying that his prior running mate’s values have shifted.
“When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to govern as a conservative. And together, we did just that,” Pence said in his speech, according to CNN. “But it’s important for Republicans to know that he and his imitators in this Republican primary make no such promise today.”
Should Republicans stick to the current course he claimed was being led by populists, Pence warned that “our party’s relevancy will be confined to the history books.”
“It may live on in some populist fashion, but then it will truly be – in a cruel twist – Republican in name only,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pence’s campaign posted a graphic to X, formally known as Twitter, laying out in simpler terms what he means by the face-off in values. To Pence, conservatism is “fiscal responsibility,” “strong defense,” “traditional values,” “limited government” and “economic freedom” – none of which he said can be found in populism.
The former vice president touts himself as a “traditional conservative” with his stances supporting sending Ukraine additional military aid, cracking down on illegal immigration at the southern US border and advocating for cuts to domestic spending and entitlement programs.
He claims his conservative values also carry into his posture on allowing states to decide for themselves how to litigate abortion rights — an argument that could be attributed to what he defines as the GOP “value” of limited government. But as a lifelong pro-lifer, he has also called on other candidates to support a 15-week federal abortion ban.
His words Wednesday bared resemblance to GOP presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial comments last month calling Trump’s congressional endorsers sycophantic “listless vessel” who don’t follow what their Republican policies preach — but what the former president wants.
“If all we [Republicans] are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pipeline through Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement,” DeSantis said, referencing Trump’s social media platform.
“Ultimately, a movement can’t be about the personality of one individual, the movement has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people? And that’s got to be based in principle,” the governor said.
