'Trump's first vice president' Pence "Republicans will be judged for abandoning conservative principles"

Mike Pence, who served as Vice President of the United States during the first Donald Trump administration, said on the 5th (local time) that the Republican Party's crushing defeat in the midterm elections was due to abandoning conservative principles and neglecting economic populism, and urged the party to restore conservative principles.

Former Vice President Pence wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that day, "The Republican Party had already lost its way before losing the election," and "conservative principles will bring victory again."

He analyzed, “This midterm election was not just a crushing defeat, but a judgment. The American people rejected our party’s shift to economic populism.”

Former Vice President Pence criticized the conservative camp for standing by while the Republican Party, the majority party, piled up record debt and spending over the past two years, saying, "Meanwhile, the administration secured shares in private companies, imposed unconstitutional tariffs on both friendly and hostile countries, and violated the right to life."

He criticized the Trump administration for not taking a strong stance on the Iran war until the end.

He pointed out, “The war with Iran was not concluded and placed a heavy burden on the Republican Party. As Washington stopped midway and chose appeasement, our military missed the opportunity to completely and permanently end the threat posed by the Iranian regime.”

Unlike US Vice President JD Vance, who previously cited the Iran war itself as a defeat in the midterm elections, he did not attribute the Iran war as a defeat, but rather presented a conflicting analysis, saying that leaving the war in an unfinished state was a burden.

Regarding the U.S. Democratic Party, he said, "It is no longer the party of John F. Kennedy," and expressed concern, "They will become more radical than ever."

Former Vice President Pence emphasized, "If conservative principles are again at the center of our movement and party, the American people will once again entrust their votes to us."

He continued, “To save our country, we must renew our strength and begin to rebuild. I hope to further strengthen our efforts to revive the conservative movement through the voice and activities of the American Foundation for the Advancement of Freedom (AAF).”

Pence established 'AAF' (Advancing American Freedom), a conservative think tank established in Washington, DC in 2021 after resigning from the vice presidency.

Former Vice President Pence is a traditional conservative within the Republican Party and a figure who has represented hawkish views in the fields of foreign affairs and security. Even on the issue of abortion, the country has stubbornly maintained its stance against abortion based on its religious beliefs.

Pence, who was a loyal second-in-command in Trump's first administration, rebelled against President Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by denying it and broke up with President Trump.