Mike Pence starting podcast to ‘share the good news of conservatism’

Hosting a podcast will be familiar territory for the former US vice president

Credit: MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock /Shutterstock 

Barely two weeks after leaving office, the former US vice president Mike Pence has switched his attention to “attracting new hearts and minds to the conservative cause” as the host of a podcast directed at American youth.

Mr Pence will become the first Ronald Reagan presidential scholar at the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a group set up in the 1960s to promote conservative values among a generation of high school and college students and those just embarking on their working lives.

Hosting a podcast will be familiar territory for Mr Pence, who was a prominent conservative radio voice in the Midwest for several years before his election to Congress in 2000.

Billing himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf,” a milder version of the firebrand right-wing radio personality beloved by Donald Trump’s supporters, Mr Pence hosted discussions on conservative and religious themes.

“The Vice-President will certainly be focused on the conservative accomplishments of the last four years and projecting those accomplishments and lessons learned forward,” a Pence spokesperson said of the podcast, according to Politico.

The website said Mr Pence, 61, will relish the opportunity to reestablish his own political identity after four years effectively in the shadow of Mr Trump, with whom he reportedly parted on strained terms in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol riots and his certification of Joe Biden’s general election victory.

Earlier this week, Mr Pence announced he was joining the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, as a distinguished visiting fellow concentrating on public policy.

He also has plans to retain a residence in Washington DC, as well as in his home state of Indiana, to remain engaged in national politics.

In a statement, Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor who is president of the Virginia-based YAF, said Mr Pence would enhance the values of the conservative youth group.

“Vice-President Pence has been a stalwart defender of individual freedom, traditional values, free markets, and limited government throughout his career of distinguished service to our country,” Mr Walker said.

“Now, by partnering with YAF, the Vice-President will continue to attract new hearts and minds to the conservative cause. His energy and enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan’s values has and will continue to inspire a new generation of young people.”

Reagan, the 40th US President, delivered a daily radio commentary while he was Governor of California in the early 1970s, a venture sponsored by YAF.