Former Vice President Mike Pence, who will join fellow candidates on the debate stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday night, told Newsmax there is a "real debate in the party about whether to follow the late president's brand of conservatism."
The fight, he told Newsmax's "National Report," will determine whether "we're going to abandon American leadership in the world, whether we're going to walk away from a debt crisis facing our children and grandchildren."
Pence said he became a Republican because Reagan "articulated a strong national defense, American leadership in the world, a commitment to free-market economics, to limited government, fiscal responsibility under traditional values, and the right to life."
"Ronald Reagan was the first one to say that these ideas didn't spring from his brow; they came from the heart of a great nation," he added, noting that the late president would not necessarily be looking for followers to his ideas as much as leaders who will follow the "American Agenda."
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the seven candidates qualified to be on the stage for the second RNC debate are Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, is bypassing the debate in favor of meeting with striking United Auto Workers in Michigan.
The polls are showing Trump with a commanding lead over the other candidates, including the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll putting Trump over the remainder of the other GOP candidates with 54%, compared to Pence at 6%.
But when asked if he thought the debate or other effort could swing the number, Pence noted that polls aren't "how we nominate people for president of the United States."
"The response we've been getting on the ground in [the] early states has been incredibly encouraging, and Iowa and New Hampshire are well known for deciding late," said Pence. "I'm very encouraged about where we're at."
Meanwhile, the United States is "in a lot of trouble," said Pence. "The American people are looking for men and women who have solutions to turn this country around, to secure our border, to build a military fitted to the widening challenges of the 21st century."
He added that as people get to know him and his family better, "they're coming to realize that I'm ... the most consistent conservative," and primary voters know "we need to bring proven leadership to bear."
With Trump visiting the striking autoworkers, and with Biden appearing in Michigan on the picket line, Pence pointed out that he's also proud of the nation's automotive industry.
Biden may also "hear some things he's not expecting."
"What's driving the pressure for the strike is the fact that Bidenomics is a total failure," said Pence. "Wages are not keeping up with inflation [and] auto workers are feeling it."
Pence said Biden's Green New Deal policies are also hurting the auto industry, and added he knows the autoworkers are paying attention, so they should "take the opportunity to say to him" that he has to "set aside the failed policies of more government, more spending, more taxes, Bidenomics, and for heaven's sake, end these mandates and subsidies that are waging war on gasoline power."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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