‘The Republican Party did not begin on a golden escalator in 2015’: Mike Pence launches
Mike Pence launched a direct attack on rivals Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis in a speech where he challenged the Republican Party to return to its conservative roots.
The former vice president, in what was billed as a major speech by his campaign, slammed the direction the GOP was moving in and called for new leadership that would bring the party to what it was under Ronald Reagan.
‘The truth is the Republican Party did not begin on a golden escalator in 2015,’ he said, referring to Trump’s campaign announcement, when he rode down as escalator at Trump Tower.
Much of what Pence addressed is reflective of the internal battle happening inside the Republican Party – a fight between the right-wing MAGA supporters and the more moderate side. The battle is playing out both on the campaign trail and in the halls of Congress as the GOP struggles with its future.
He made his argument at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, an must-stop on the presidential campaign trail. New Hampshire, which holds the first in the nation primary, prides itself on its political independence, touting its state motto of ‘Live Free or Die.’
Mike Pence launched an attack on rivals Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy in a major speech on the future of the Republican Party
A small crowd of about 50 people listened to his remarks and posed for selfies afterward.
For Pence, the speech could be a pivotal moment. It comes after he made aggressive attacks in the first Republican primary debate. The second debate will take place in three weeks, on September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Other candidates have tried similar moves – making grand speeches that are also targeted at addressing one of the major questions voters have about them. Mitt Romney, a Mormon, made one on faith during his presidential campaign. And Barack Obama made one on race during his presidential bid.
For Pence, that major question is Trump. As his former vice president, he worked in the administration that pushed some of those policies he is now questioning.
Trump has a strangle hold on the Republican Party. His MAGA supporters have made or broken candidates in several primary elections, leaving him in a position of power. The former president’s own arraingments and legal issues have seen him raise millions from his supporters.
In his remarks, Pence cast himself as the inheritor of Reagan’s legacy and slammed his rivals for rejecting the Constitution, using the government to further their own agenda, and turning to populism.
‘When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, he promised to govern as a conservative. Together we did,’ Pence said. ‘But it’s important for Republicans to know that he and his imitators in this Republican primary make no such promise today.’
He also criticized Trump’s position on Medicaid and Medicare.
‘Donald Trump’s position on entitlement reform is identical to Joe Biden’s,’ Pence said.
Donald Trump rides an escalator in Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his candidacy for president of the United States
Mike Pence with Donald Trump in the Oval Office in September 2020 – Pence argued the two men together governed as conservatives and that Trump has turned from that
Pence is struggling to gain traction in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination. He has been barnstorming New Hampshire – the first primary state – but sits at 2% in the RealClearPolitics polling average of the state. Trump leads by double digits and Ramaswamy is at 6%.
And the latest poll in New Hampshire had Trump holding a 38-point lead over the field with 48% while Pence was in seventh place with only 4%.
DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley shared second place with 10% apiece. Ramaswamy came in at 8%.
Pence, in his speech, tried to tie DeSantis to Trump, calling the Florida governor an ‘imitator’ of the former president.
‘These imitators in this primary have demonstrated a willingness to brandish government power to impose their will on opponents,’ he said, pointing to DeSantis’ war on Walt Disney.
‘The governor of Florida still justifies using the power of the state to punish a corporation for taking a political stance that he disagreed with,’ Pence said.
The DeSantis/Disney clash began when the company spoke out against the governor’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law – a state law prohibiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. As part of that war, DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida legislature terminated the self-governing privileges that Disney World had held since 1967.
In his remarks, Pence attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (above right) for his war on Disney
Biotech executive Vivek Ramaswamy is also campaigning around New Hampshire – above he’s at the Labor Day Parade in Milford
And Pence criticized Ramaswamy for advocating in his book for a 59% inheritance tax. The former vice president said the tax policy was something liberals would support.
‘In his book Nation of Victims last year, he said that Americans should not become wealthy quote, just by having rich parents,’ Pence noted.
Pence called on Republicans to return to the policies of ‘limited government and individual liberty.’
He argued that was the way to defeat President Joe Biden next November.
‘If we’re to defeat Joe Biden and turn America around, the Republican Party must be the party of limited government, free enterprise, fiscal responsibility and traditional moral values,’ Pence said in his closing. ‘And I’ll be carrying that message across the Granite State and all across America in the days ahead.’