Pence Comments On Reconciliation Bill
Former Vice President Mike Pence appears to be struggling with political reality—and the evolving identity of the Republican Party. Despite a failed 2024 presidential bid that underscored just how far out of step he is with the party’s base, Pence continues to publicly assert that Donald Trump hasn’t fundamentally changed the GOP. That statement, made during a Thursday appearance on CNN News Central, drew immediate skepticism and criticism, not just for its tone-deafness, but for its complete misreading of the current political climate.
“I don’t think he’s changed the Republican Party,” Pence claimed, dismissing the populist wave that has redefined the GOP over the past eight years as “a minority voice.” Yet that “minority voice” just delivered Trump sweeping victories in all seven swing states, rebuilt the electoral map, and shattered traditional voting coalitions—including flipping large portions of the Obama coalition into reliable Republican votes.
Former VP @Mike_Pence: I would have no problem voting for President Trump's "one big, beautiful bill."
Telling @KateBolduan: Trump "has changed aspects of the agenda of the Republican Party. But I don't think he's changed the Republican Party." pic.twitter.com/1UXKYNqAUS
— CNN News Central (@NewsCentralCNN) July 10, 2025
Pence’s defense of the “traditional” GOP—focused on Reagan-era talking points like unfettered free markets, fiscal hawkishness, and internationalist foreign policy—sounds increasingly out of touch with what Republican voters actually care about today. The GOP is no longer the Tea Party-era movement fixated on budget charts and entitlement reform. It is a multi-racial, working-class coalition focused on economic nationalism, border security, trade fairness, cultural sanity, and prioritizing American citizens over bureaucratic globalism.
Even Senate moderates, like Susan Collins, are pushing policy that reflects this shift. Her failed amendment to boost rural hospital funding received strong support within the GOP, despite potential tax implications—something that would have been heresy in the old guard’s playbook. But this is the new Republican Party: practical, grounded, and responsive to voters who can't take a day off work or drive hours for healthcare.
And Trump? He understood that before most. Tariffs aren’t a dirty word anymore—they’re seen as leverage to win better trade deals and protect American workers. The days of blind faith in free trade deals that hollowed out manufacturing towns are over.
While criticizing Trump’s tariffs, Mike Pence insinuates that Trump voters didn’t ask for this at the ballot box:
“I mostly heard people saying… we want to get back to what the Trump-Pence admin was advancing.”
I don’t know a single person who asked for Pence polices lol. pic.twitter.com/nEF8mvfONM
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) July 10, 2025
Pence, on the other hand, seems stuck in a political time capsule. His claim that the GOP hasn’t changed ignores the data, the elections, and the base itself. Trump’s version of the party wins where Pence’s doesn’t. It wins Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. It courts Latino and Black working-class voters. It builds a future.
So what is Mike Pence doing? That’s the question many are asking. Clinging to a GOP that no longer exists, failing to recognize the scale of transformation already accomplished, and refusing to adapt—Pence risks becoming a political footnote rather than a relevant voice.