Mike Pence Thinks He’s the ‘Lifeguard’ of the American Right

The former vice president seemingly lacks any self-awareness as he haughtily anoints himself the policing decider on what views and discussions are “allowed” among conservatives. Such arrogance smacks as offensive coming from any single individual, but it ascends into total cognitive dissonance when that pretend potentate is none other than “Surrender Mike” Pence.

In this regard, Pence acts like the annoying lifeguard we all encountered at the pool growing up. He was too big for his britches, some cocky teenage punk all too ready to enforce “the rules” upon well-meaning kids just trying to swim and enjoy themselves. Convinced of their own power and merit, such scolds refuse to accept the limits of their actual influence.

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So, from his imaginary political lifeguard chair, Mike Pence blows his whistle and yells down to the populist Right to “stop and get out of the pool for an immediate timeout.” Lately, the target of his establishment ire is the Heritage Foundation as an institution and its leader, Kevin Roberts, as an individual.

The grievance session from Pence was delivered via CNN. Yep, CNN. You know, that paragon of intellectual honesty that produces so much valuable content for American conservatives. Wait. Scratch that. Actually, Pence went running to his new besties at CNN because he sounds a lot more like Jake Tapper these days than Ronald Reagan.

In his therapy couch interview with CNN, Pence brags openly about trying to recruit Heritage staffers to his new think tank. Notably, Pence never left D.C. after he left office in 2021, and he started that think tank as a decidedly old-school establishment GOP throwback to the era of GOP weaklings who simply managed the decline of America alongside their pals on the Democrat side of the aisle.

About these recruiting efforts, Heritage’s Andy Olivastro responded that “Mike Pence is waiting for a train back to relevance that ain’t comin’.”

But Pence insists he’s important and somehow relevant to the broader Republican base. He told CNN, “I’m convinced that while in those respects, the president has changed aspects of the Republican agenda, I don’t believe he’s changed the Republican Party.”

Pretty bold statement from Surrender Mike, as any political observer with an ounce of honesty and/or intelligence recognizes that the GOP has changed in profound ways, becoming far more populist and nationalist at the voter level. But nonetheless, let’s test Mike’s grand pronouncement with actual data.

I just polled the key battleground state of Wisconsin. This poll was overall not a kind one for President Trump, who registers another -15 percent approval rating in the Badger State, 38/53 percent. Voters remain deeply unhappy with the economy, and they increasingly blame the GOP for this predicament.

In spite of that sour macro mood, when Trump voters were asked if they regretted their 2024 ballot choice, only 9 percent said that they did. That’s it—just 9 percent, a year and a half later. Among self-identified “conservatives,” only 5 percent regretted voting for Trump. That kind of unanimity within a large population—Trump earned 81 million votes total, nationally—is difficult to find in today’s fractured political scene.

So, those pesky facts keep getting in the way of Mike’s fantasies. Trump remains overwhelmingly popular among Republicans. The party has, indeed, been completely reshaped into a populist Right party that is now geared to workers rather than to bluebloods or CEOs, even though those small groups of elites still send money to Mike Pence to fund his Beltway boondoggles.

When you’re running to CNN to complain, it’s a good rule of thumb that you are not speaking for the masses of patriotic conservatives in America. Believe me, I know. I worked on-air at CNN for two years at the request of President Trump. That entire platform is poisoned and biased from the jump. They hate not just Trump in a visceral way, but also the masses of hard-working Americans who demand national sovereignty, diffused prosperity, and a return to cultural conservatism.

Enjoy your new besties there, Surrender Mike. But you won’t order us “out of the pool.” We are moving upward and onward . . . because we have a country to save.

Steve Cortes is president of the League of American Workers and advisor to Catholic Vote.

He directs political campaigns on media, polling, and Hispanic outreach, including Trump 2016/2020 and Vance 2022 U.S. Senate.

This article was published by American Greatness:

https://amgreatness.com/2026/03/26/mike-pence-thinks-hes-the-lifeguard-of-the-american-right/

Cortes Investigates is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.