Wednesday on CNN’s “News Central,” former Vice President Mike Pence argued the “populist right” is a threat to the Republican Party, which should return to a traditional “conservative agenda.”

Pence said, “There’s concern in the heartland, particularly on the farm, for the impact of broad based tariffs, the rising input costs for farmers and, I expect Republicans will take all of that to heart. And, I hope what they do, as I argue in my book, is return our party to the consistent advocacy of the conservative agenda. This define the Republican movement for the last 50 years.”

He continued, “I wanted people to know around the country that, a new threat to conservatism has emerged from within our movement. And it’s, I call it the populist right. And essentially advances policies of protectionism, isolationism, marginalizing traditional values. And, and while they’ve had some success prevailing on the second Trump administration, not all, I think the second Trump administration has gotten a lot right. Secured the border, extended all those Trump Pence, tax cuts, stood up to Iran, stood with Israel but when you look at when you look at the stops and starts on Ukraine, by this administration, when you look at, the, you know, voices on the outside that have even questioned our support for Israel and the economic policies, nationalization of businesses, broad based tariffs against friend and foe alike, price controls. I wanted to write a book that it was about what conservatives believe in the hopes that in the midterms and in 2028, we return our party to those founding principles.”

Pence added, “This new cabinet that, new voices, I mean, the idea of, of literally having the federal government take a percentage share of American businesses, would have, I think, never even been discussed in the first Trump administration. Republicans have always believed in and limited government in free market economics and free enterprise. Those policies, big government policies that have made their way into this administration.”

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