No liberal in their right mind would ever be a Mike Pence fan – not in a world where he advocates Christian Nationalism, destruction of the social safety net, and the shredding of women’s reproductive rights, and that’s just the start, so there is no love lost between any of us and Pence. But Pence has not been shy about coming out strongly against his old boss in any number of areas, something that shouldn’t be a surprise since Pence came out the strongest against the coup itself and completed the certification on January 6th, 2021. But it shouldn’t be taken for granted, either.
So it’s notable that Pence jumped into the latest Trump disaster with a smashing backhand that cuts directly against Trump while landing Pence firmly back into the cold embrace of the… hard right conservatives. Yes, Pence backed up the unworthy Leonard Leo, head of the Federalist Society, who Trump just called a real “sleazebag.” Whatever that is – not good, obviously.
To review, this was Trump’s reaction to a three-judge panel, some of them appointed by Trump, reversing a presidential order imposing tariffs on imports:
Trump turns heel on the Federalist Society
Donald Trump can lay the blame for conservative judges at Leonard Leo’s feet if he wishes but only because Trump kissed the Federalist Society’s ass such that he outsourced nominating judges to the organization and then trusted their findings implicitly. So it is Leonard Leo’s “fault” that his judges are so conservative that they aren’t loyal to Trump first, last, and only – as Trump would vastly prefer it. Regardless, Trump’s shot across the bow of all Trump-appointed judges was noted and was “the talk of the judicial world,” according to reports.
Thus it was that Mike Pence stepped up to part from his old boss – again – and back Leonard Leo firmly. Today, Pence tweeted:
“The Federalist Society and Leonard Leo were indispensable partners through all four years of the Trump-Pence administration.
With @FedSoc support, we confirmed over 220 principled judges, including three Supreme Court Justices, committed to the Rule of Law, Religious Liberty and the Right to Life. Conservative Americans owe a debt of gratitude to the more than 60,000 Lawyers, Law Students & Scholars of The Federalist Society who changed legal consensus, changed the courts, and changed our nation for the better over the past forty years.”
True, Pence doesn’t name Trump, but he didn’t need to. Everyone has been talking about Trump’s blast at Leo, it is the basis from which Trump’s new hated meme has come about, we’re talking about “Trump Always Chickens Out” or “TACO” – done to mock Trump’s not-so-firm stance backing tariffs. So Pence’s firm support of Leo over his old boss is inherently blowback directed right at Trump.
Divisions like this across the Right are always welcome, but especially so in this context. Trump desperately needs the conservative Right – those people who are loyal to their definition of conservatism over and above Donald Trump. These are the same people who favor free trade and limited executive action. They would vastly prefer that Trump focus solely on cutting away the social safety net and lowering taxes over increasing the cost of goods. When one is mad at the other, they’re more likely to make it hard for their opponents to succeed. It isn’t hard to envision Trump backing off major tax cuts in order to infuriate an insufficiently loyal hard right. (It is a reach but please admit that he’s not above it), Democrats can’t support these conservatives in any matter and so division for division’s sake are a great thing heading into 2026
No, Mike Pence will not be found on any Democratic ticket in 2026 – nor would we ever want him, but he does occasionally do Democrats a great service in continuing to drive an axe through the starboard Right heading into 2026.
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