Former Vice President Mike Pence begins to reappear after the end of the Trump administration with the launch of a new group to counter the policies of the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.
The former vice president has remained largely out of public view since the day of the inauguration, focusing mainly on some initial work with conservative organizations and the arrival of a new grandson. But on Wednesday, it released Advancing American Freedom, an entity, it said in a statement, that “will promote the pro-freedom policies of the past four years that created unprecedented prosperity at home and restored respect for America to the foreigner “.
The new group will allow Pence to maintain his political profile and serve as a vehicle to help defend the policies of the Trump era. A senior aide said the former vice president is likely to focus especially on the evolution of the Biden administration’s immigration and border security policies and the current president’s proposal to raise rates. corporate tax to pay for a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan.
According to the senior assistant, who requested anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly about the plans, the new group is designed to “merge traditional conservative values with the Make America Great agenda.”
Successfully executing this merger in the coming years will be crucial for any Republican who is not named Donald Trump and is considering running for president in 2024. While the Republican Party awaits a decision from the former president on whether to ‘join or not in the contest, Trump-aligned GOP leaders are making initial moves: former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has traveled to Iowa in recent weeks; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is earning praise from conservative leaders for his management of the coronavirus pandemic in his state; Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton; Texas Senator Ted Cruz; and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Others outside Trump’s sphere of influence, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, are also reflecting on White House bids.
But Pence’s new group comes with the blessing of Trump, who in a brief statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday called his first term “the most successful” in American history and added: “I like to see Mike highlighting some of our accomplishments. “
Pence’s group is backed by who’s who of Trump-era players and other conservative leaders. It will be led by Paul Teller, Cruz’s former aide and co-chaired by Pence’s former aides, Marty Obst and Marc Short and Chip Saltsman, a former presidential campaign assistant to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Mike Huckabee.
The group’s board of directors includes former White House Secretary Kellyanne Conway, Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow, former sales representative Robert Lighthizer, Callista and Newt Gingrich, Ed Meese and Rick Santorum. Current Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also advises the group, along with former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Kay James, president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank for which Pence is a distinguished visiting fellow, and two of the group’s former presidents, Jim DeMint and Ed Fuelner, are also on board.
The launch of the new group comes ahead of the former vice president’s first public appearance, a speech in front of a conservative Christian group scheduled for April 29 in Columbia, South Carolina. He is also scheduled to attend a private fundraiser for the Heritage Foundation in Arizona earlier that week, the aides said.
Pence’s announcement comes on the same day that Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller announced plans to launch an unrelated group, America First Legal, designed to pose legal challenges to Biden administration policies.