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Tags: mike pence | democrat | gop | ronald reagan

Pence: I Was a Democrat Before Reagan Came Along

By    |   Wednesday, 05 July 2023 01:09 PM EDT

While former Vice President Mike Pence is a frequent target of the left for being too conservative to represent all Americans, it's a long forgotten fact he began his political career as a Democrat.

"I started out in politics as a teenager as a Democrat," Pence said on Wednesday's "Hugh Hewitt Show."

Former President Ronald Reagan, a former Democrat, came along to change the Republican Party paradigm.

"It was the voice of Ronald Reagan that drew me to the Republican Party," Pence said. "In his voice I heard the ideals that my combat veteran father, who would have been 94 years old today, and my grandfather, who was an Irish immigrant, taught me to believe in, so I joined the Republican Party."

Pence told Hewitt he would be all-in for whoever wins the GOP nomination, a pledge Republican National Committee under Chair Ronna McDaniel is asking debate attendees to sign.

Pence said he will have no problem supporting anyone who wins the GOP primary and secures the nomination. That includes former President Donald Trump, a boss Pence had a "falling out" with, but has been far more apt to praise of late.

"I have supported every Republican nominee for president since I have joined the Republican Party in the 1980s," Pence told Hewitt. "I'll be supporting the Republican nominee, and especially if it's me."

Eric Mack

Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Politics
While former Vice President Mike Pence is a frequent target of the left for being too conservative to represent all Americans, it's a long forgotten fact he began his political career as a Democrat.
mike pence, democrat, gop, ronald reagan
226
2023-09-05
Wednesday, 05 July 2023 01:09 PM
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