Mike Pence - Has conservatism lost its way?

The Republican Party continues to evolve under Donald Trump's leadership. Has that transformation strengthened the conservative movement or changed it fundamentally?

Mike Pence served as the 48th Vice President of the United States and as Governor of Indiana. He joins the show to discuss his new book, the future of conservatism, the direction of the Republican Party, and the principles he believes should guide the movement moving forward.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome back to the Lars Larson show. Well, at one point, this man was in my business, and then he ran for the House of Representatives, and then he became governor of Indiana, and then he served as Vice President of the United States, the 48th uh Vice President of the United States. Mike Pence joins me now. Mike, welcome back to the program. It's been too long.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Lars Larson, I am delighted to be back on with you. And yeah, I I made a living back in the 90s in syndicated talk radio just back in Indiana, but uh I was never as big as Lars Larson.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Oh, now hold on a second. I'm small potatoes by comparison, but I don't have a book out yet, and you do, called What Conservatives Believe. Is there a way when you have as far-flung uh personalities as, say, Lindsay Gramnesty and uh Donald Trump at the other end of the spectrum, if you want to put those uh at two ends of the spectrum? When you say what conservatives believe, which kind of conservatives are we talking about?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Well, I think uh number one, thanks for having me on. We sure the book, uh, What Conservatives Believe was really inspired uh by the fact that, you know, for the last 50 years, uh the principles of conservatism, uh a commitment to a strong defense, uh limited government, uh, traditional values, the right to life, have really defined the Republican Party. Um but there's change in the air. First and foremost, we've over those 50 years we mostly were just fighting the liberal Democratic Party. Now we're fighting against a progressive left that is embracing socialism and radical ideologies and even questioning our support for Israel. Um so that's the first change, is that the opposition. I said the other day, and I wrote this book because I think to some extent Republicans have lost their way, but Democrats have lost their minds. So we're up against you know a fierce leftist opposition. But I I wrote the book because also, Lars, I wanted people to know I think there's a new threat to that traditional conservative agenda at the heart of our movement, and it comes from the populist right. Uh uh it is it is voices inside and outside our government uh that question America's uh role as leader of the free world, embrace big government solutions, uh, and even marginalize uh the right to life as an as an issue of importance to our people. So I think to some extent, many Americans have become confused about what it means to be a conservative. And so that's why uh I put pen to paper and uh and wrote what conservatives believe.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

That's his book. Mike, tell uh Vice President Pence, let me ask you this. Uh do you see your former boss as one of those threats? Because the three items you mentioned are not hallmarks of Donald Trump, but I want to know whether or not you think your current your former boss is a threat to conservatism as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Well, let me say, and I'm incredibly proud of the record of the Trump Pence administration. Uh I mean, we we cut taxes, uh, rolled back regulations, rebuilt our military, stood for the right to life like no other administration in history. And the new Trump administration, Lars, I want to say emphatically, I think they've gotten a lot right. I mean, they secured the southern border of the United States after the worst border crisis under Joe Biden in our history. They extended all those tax cuts that we passed. And taking the fight at last uh to the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world in Iran and standing with Israel, those are all to be commended. And I I think the president and his entire team uh deserve the gratitude of conservatives across the country. But to your point, uh the stops and starts on certain policies, uh embracing price controls, nationalization of businesses, which is an idea Elizabeth Warren says she came up with uh broad-based tariffs against friend and foe alike, marginalizing the right to life, uh, and also really uh there are voices on the populist right that have had some purchase on our our willingness and ability to be leader of the free world, particularly in standing up to Russia. Uh those those are issues that have been departures. But I I I tried to write the book in a way that uh that called out really the movement of the populist right, give the president and his team credit where credit is due, but also make sure people know that uh when you know, two minutes after this midterm election, we're gonna start talking about the presidential election. And I think it's gonna be more important for us to talk about what we're for before we talk about who we're for.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

I'm talking to Mike Pence, former Vice President of the United States, the author most recently of what conservatives believe. Let me ask you about something that is very much front and center. We had an Apache helicopter shot down. The President says there will be a proportionate response. Actually, I said, I wish we had a disproportionate response. You know, when they shoot one of our aircraft down, put our aviators in danger, I'd like them to feel the pain of it coming back. But I want to ask you, uh the president took on this fight with Iran, says they cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Barack Obama has said the same damn thing. We've run the uh sound bite of him saying it, except no president until Trump has been willing to do it. Was this fight necessary? Because I think it was, and I'll I'll tell you my bias up front, Vice President Pence. But is there any doubt in your mind that this was a necessary fight and it had to happen now? Because I don't see any reason for for Donald Trump to have done it this year. If he was looking at pure politics, he would have said, I don't want that during an election year. I need to win the midterms, and and he would have let it go. So I it makes me believe he must have known it was necessary to do it now. Am I wrong?

SPEAKER_00 6:02

I I want to say to your listeners all over the country, Lars Larson, that you are absolutely right. This had to happen. Uh for 47 years, uh the radical Islamic terrorist regime in Tehran has been waging war on the United States, on Israel, and on the West, claiming more than a thousand service members' lives over that period of time, injuring countless more in Iraq, uh and Afghanistan, uh, and then working through their proxies of Hamas and Hezbollah to wreak havoc across the region. I give President Donald Trump all the credit in the world uh for having the courage to unleash the armed forces of the United States uh against the mullahs uh in Tehran. And our military has done a brilliant job uh in that month of March, 13,000 military sites had taken down, the leadership eliminated, the Navy sunk. But I do think in this moment, and and uh particularly with the with the downing of the Apache helicopter, I uh I I'm hoping and praying uh that uh in the days ahead the president will permit our troops to go finish the job. And that is open up the strait on our terms, uh take down their um their offensive military capacity on our terms, and then ensure that they they dismantle and abandon that nuclear program, their missile program, and end sowing violence and terrorism across the region once and for all.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Well, from your lips to God's ears, because I gotta tell you something, Vice President Pence. I think the the folks who are running Iran, the IRGT, and of course the mullahs to some extent, but primarily the IRGTs, uh are are part of a religious death cult. You know, they want the return of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam, blah di blah di blah, and they don't see any problem with starting a worldwide conflagration, if necessary, to make it happen. And they've been chanting death to America and death to Israel for the last 47 years, and it needs to stop, and it needs top now. His new book is called What Conservatives Believe. He is the 48th Vice President of the United States. Vice President Mike Pence, thank you very much. I appreciate the time. Glad to be with you on a Tuesday, and always glad to take your phone calls and your emails at 866-ALARS. That's 866-439-5277. Send your emails to talk at larrislarsen.com. And of course, you can always check us out on Instagram and tell Alexa to play the Lars Larsen show.