⁠Mike Pence Breaks Silence on Presidential Campaign, Hits Out at Tariffs

Former Vice President Mike Pence has broken his pledge to stay silent during the 2024 election, calling on Republicans across the party to embrace “traditional conservative priorities,” and taking aim at “protectionist tariffs” on foreign goods, a keystone in Donald Trump’s economic agenda.
Pence criticized the campaigns of both Trump and Kamala Harris in a Monday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, despite saying in August that he would endorse neither candidate and that he pledged to “stay out of the presidential campaign.”
“The 2024 election is unusual in that both candidates have a record in the White House,” Pence wrote. “It’s the first election in which both candidates are running away from those records.”
In his latest article, Pence claimed that he has broken his silence to support down-ballot Republicans running in this year’s Senate, gubernatorial and state elections, arguing that their success hinges on two key strategies.
With the first of these—”exposing the undeniable failures of Kamala Harris and the Democrats”—he argued that voters have so far failed to connect the policies of the past three-and-a-half years with the vice president.
“As border czar, she has overseen the worst border crisis in American history and allowed more than 10 million illegal immigrants to enter our country,” Pence wrote.
He went on to say that “on her watch, inflation soared to a 40-year high,” referring to the 9.1 year-over-year consumer price reading recorded in June 2022, while also blaming Harris for the country’s housing crisis and Americans’ soaring credit card debt.
The second prong of Pence’s strategy involves Republicans embracing “successful conservative policies.”
“The previous administration cut taxes, which fueled wage gains for American workers and created millions of new jobs,” he wrote.
“We secured the southern border and reduced illegal immigration to historic lows, bringing security back to our communities. We embraced America’s role as the leader of the free world. We invested trillions to rebuild our military, restoring America’s strength. And our administration was proudly pro-life.”
These “traditional conservative priorities,” Pence claimed, propelled the Republicans to a “historic” victory in 2016.
Pence also took aim at the “protectionist tariffs” on foreign goods, arguing that these will make products more expensive for all Americans.
In what appeared to be a slight against his former running mate, Pence argued that Republicans should run on the foreign policy promise to “deliver peace through strength,” repeating Ronald Reagan’s famous paraphrasing of George Washington, and reject “isolationism and the abandonment of American leadership.”
Pence lost favor with former President Trump’s base after refusing to reject the results of the 2020 election, resulting in threats against the then-vice president during the ensuing January 6 Capitol riots.
In March, Pence claimed that he could not “in good conscience” endorse his former boss, citing “profound differences” between the two on several issues, as well as the events that transpired in January.
He added on Monday that Republicans should “unashamedly recommit to the pro-life cause,” described as “the great moral calling of our era,” while pledging to adopt “responsible budgets that fix America’s broken entitlement programs” and framing the GOP as “the party of the constitution.”
“Republicans will win by embracing traditional conservative priorities,” Pence continued. “If the party abandons these positions, it will fail to motivate our voters. Worse, it will demoralize them, undermining Republicans’ chances of victory.”
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