Former Vice President Mike Pence Talks State of the Republican Party

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news.

**Jonathan Ferro** (0:07)
The former US Vice President, Mike Pence, warning of threats to the Republican Party in his latest book, What Conservatives Believe, Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience. Pence writing, quote, Trump has not always governed as a conservative. The result is that many Americans are confused about what it means to be a conservative. I'm very pleased to say the 48th Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, joins us now for more. Mr. Vice President, welcome back to Bloomberg Surveillance on Bloomberg TV.

**Mike Pence** (0:34)
Thank you. Great to be back on.

**Jonathan Ferro** (0:35)
It's good to see you, sir. I'll ask that question to you. What does it mean to be a conservative?

**Mike Pence** (0:40)
Well, for decades, the Republican Party has really been the home of conservatism in this country. It's a commitment to limited government, free market economics, strong defense, American leadership in the world, and traditional values has really guided the Republican Party since Ronald Reagan came to the White House. It's why I and millions of Americans were drawn to the Republican Party over the years. Our principal contest was against the liberal Democratic Party over those decades, but as the Democratic Party has been overtaken by more progressive left policies, including socialist policies, not just in New York, but all around the country, I wrote the book because I wanted Republicans to know that there's a new threat to that conservative agenda from within our movement, from a populist right that would really challenge our commitment to limited government, to free enterprise, challenge America's role as leader of the free world, marginalize values. And I do think, as you quoted from the book, that many are confused about what it means to be a conservative. So that's what inspired what conservatives believe.

**Annmarie Hordern** (1:58)
Well, you served alongside him, of course, in the first term. Was he a conservative then?

**Mike Pence** (2:03)
Well, I think, look, I say this in the book. You know, I know Donald Trump better than his most ardent defenders. We work together every day and spoke every day for four and a half years. And in fairness to the president, he's actually never said he was a conservative. In fact, I lost count of the number of times that I would say in conversations in the Oval Office, well, that position is a conservative position. And he would wave his hand and say, what, conservative, it's just common sense. And so, but in our administration, I will tell you, I think we were very faithful in most cases to the traditional conservative agenda, appointing conservative judges, upholding the rule of law, and particularly in the area of free market and economics and free enterprise. You know, we cut taxes, rolled back regulations, unleashed American energy. But on economic issues, I think it's becoming more apparent, particularly in the business community across this country, that with the advent of broad-based tariffs imposed on friend and foe alike, that while they were turned back by the Supreme Court, we saw the news this morning of a new round of tariffs attempted by the USTR. The nationalization of American businesses was something we never countenanced in our administration. It's much more a part of a traditional socialist thinking around the world.
Price Controls on Pharmaceuticals and Credit Cards. These are, I think these are policies that come out of the populist right, Annmarie, and they represent a real shift. Now let me, can I just say, I think the second Trump administration has gotten a lot right, standing up to Iran, standing with Israel, extending those tax cuts, securing our border.
But on some key issues, we've seen those populist right policies take hold, and I want conservatives around the country to know that.

**Annmarie Hordern** (4:04)
These are ideas that you would hear from a Senator Elizabeth Warren or Senator Bernie Sanders. But the issue in Washington right now is there's not a lot of people speaking out against this in Congress.
Do you feel that Trump has gotten a lot more carte blanche this time around?

**Mike Pence** (4:18)
Well, I think so. I mean, the president is the leader of the party and with majorities in the Congress. I think there's been a tremendous amount of deference to the president.
But you put a fine point on it. In fact, in my book, I point out when the president first announced a nationalization policy, it might have been the golden chairs in US. Steel.
Elizabeth Warren said memorably, Donald Trump has come across an idea that I came up with years ago. And John might argue whether nationalization was something Elizabeth Warren came up with. There might be a deeper history in other parts of the world. But I honestly believe that there's not been a great deal of awareness broadly among grassroots Americans about some of these shifts. But people are starting to wake up to it. And I hope my book is a part of that awakening, not just because I think conservative policies are good for the Republican Party. It's because I believe freedom, free market economics, commitment to limited government and American leadership in the world is good for America.