Former Vice President Mike Pence may be out of politics, but his fight against his former boss, President Donald Trump, is far from over.
Now Pence is taking aim at what he calls “Trump 2.0” including Trump’s presidential agenda and his loyalty to America.
Coming off a trip to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, the former vice president is more convinced than ever of the need for the U.S. to stand strong against China and bolster Taiwan’s defenses.
“There seems to be this suggestion on both sides of a certain thawing in relations, which in principle I welcome, but not compromising on principles,” he told a small group of reporters at the Advancing American Freedom office in Washington, D.C.
Pence is convinced that his brand of neoconservatism is not dead.
“There have been voices of isolationism that have been emerging in our party of late,” he said. “I’m not yet convinced that they represent the president’s views.”
However, Pence does not believe the 2024 election was a referendum on interventionist policy.
“I don’t think people were voting for isolationism in 2024.”
“There are loud voices, both inside and outside the administration that are calling on America to pull back from, whether it be Eastern Europe, the Asia Pacific, and even some are calling for us to pull back on our longstanding support for Israel,” Pence went on.
“One of the things we want to be, Advancing American Freedom and whatever remains of my bully pulpit, is to be an anchor to windward for traditional conservatism within the Republican Party.”
In Hong Kong, Pence stood in front of 2,000 people and called for authorities to release Jimmy Lai, an imprisoned media mogul and pro-democracy activist, to the audible gasps of the crowd.
Back at home, he’s calling on Trump to “reconsider” the U.S.-Nippon Steel merger that Biden stopped.
Pence also said that he is also worried his former boss does not fully grasp the dangers of TikTok, after Trump’s newfound embrace of the video-sharing platform where he enjoys 15 million followers.
Trump signed an executive order giving TikTok another 75 days in operation after Congress passed a law last year forcing them to divest from Chinese-owned ByteDance or face a ban in the U.S.
“I am concerned that the administration doesn’t fully appreciate the issues that animated the need for divestment,” said Pence.
“People that are in their 20s and 30s today could be in the Senate – in the House in 10 years. The fact that the Chinese Communist Party is collecting data on Americans, whatever their age or experience is, is not something to be dismissed.”
Pence continued his focus on China, saying the nation is trying to infiltrate public opinion in Taiwan ahead of a possible invasion to try to take over the island.
“The CCP thinks the principal value of TikTok is the ability to impact public opinion at a critical moment,” he said. “When I met with leadership in Taiwan, on TikTok they said, in effect, they’re dealing with an onslaught of social media propaganda coming out of China into Taiwan, trying to set the stage for whatever action, economic, political or hard power may be coming their way.”
Pence said he is also worried about Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman-turned Republican whom Trump has nominated to be his director of national intelligence.
She has “at times over the last two years, been an apologist for Putin. And, you know, has a history of being critical of the use of American power,” said Pence.
“I think, if memory serves, she actually criticized when we took out [top Iranian general] Qassem Soleimani.”
Finally, Pence’s group has already come out with a campaign in opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Pence refused to endorse President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Pence and Trump fell out after the January 6th Capitol riot, and Trump, in turn, recently suggested that he wouldn’t hire anyone who had worked for his former second-in-command.