Republican strategist talks about the current state of the party : NPR

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The chairman of the board at Mike Pence’s think tank is his longtime adviser, Marc Short, who’s on the line. Marc, good morning.

MARC SHORT: Good morning, Steve. Thank you for having me today.

INSKEEP: I’m glad you’re with us. Are you actively recruiting Heritage Foundation staff?

SHORT: You know, Steve, what happened in this case is that the leaders of those three divisions within Heritage that you just mentioned, the legal center, the Center for Data Analysis and the Free Enterprise Center, all approached us. And I think it’s in part because they’ve seen Advancing American Freedom stand firm on conservative principles, which is a role that Heritage used to play. And I think in the absence of Heritage embracing big government populism, and I think most recently, sadly, perhaps even tolerating antisemitism, there was a desire to come back to a home where they could continue to advance true conservative policy. And so we’re excited to add them. As your correspondent mentioned…

INSKEEP: Yeah…

SHORT: …It nearly doubles the size of our organization. And I would imagine that hopefully there’ll be more who want to be part of this team, too.

INSKEEP: You just said big government populism. Will you define what you mean by that for people who aren’t familiar?

SHORT: Well, sure, I think that in the first Trump administration, President Trump was incredibly successful at adding a lot of new voters to the Republican Party. But he did it on the backbone of conservative policy. If you look at the First administration, there was obviously significant and historic tax relief and a deregulatory agenda, and a judicial effort that was looked at trying to limit the size and scope of government.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

SHORT: What you see today is basically now embracing state-owned enterprises, which is something that would be anathema to conservatives and something the whole conservative movement would have once upon a time spoken out against.

INSKEEP: You’re talking about…

SHORT: And now additionally…

INSKEEP: …Things like saying that the government will take a stake in Intel and get profits from other businesses. That’s what you’re talking about, right?

SHORT: Yeah, absolutely. Intel and Nvidia and in basically announcements of…

INSKEEP: Oh, Nvidia. Yeah.

SHORT: …More even golden shares in things like the U.S. Steel acquisition. But additionally, you know, Steve, the entire trade agenda is one that basically picks winners and losers. By allowing those who have, you know, connections in lobbying to get exclusions for their companies and basically has central planners, I think, in the economy, trying to dictate who’s going to win and who’s going to lose. And I think that traditionally, conservatives have wanted basically a limited role of government in the economy and allowing the marketplace to thrive. And so I think those are some of the biggest challenges economically.

INSKEEP: I…

SHORT: And certainly, you know, I think when it comes to defense of Constitution, as well, I think there’s a – there used to be, I think, a more limited role for judiciary than it appears to be today of wanting to pick winners and losers there as.

INSKEEP: I guess we should note that Vice President Pence – former Vice President Pence has also criticized the president’s tariffs. But I want to ask about antisemitism, which you also mentioned. Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, got a lot of criticism for appearing to defend Tucker Carlson, who, in turn, had interviewed Nick Fuentes, this famous antisemite. What is the proper approach to an influencer like Fuentes, who has a lot of followers in the conservative movement?

SHORT: Yeah. I think there’s a great question there, Steve, and that I think a lot of critics want to say, you know, it’s not our job to have a cancel culture. That was something that the left was predominant at. And I think that at the same time, you can welcome debate, but also have a self-policing, you know, role that makes sure that ideas that are poisonous and hateful are those that are not really welcomed at the table. And, you know, back many, many years ago, there was a similar battle in the conservative movement when Bill Buckley spoke out against kind of the McCarthyism and what was, at the time, some rules of antisemitism. And so, you know, we’ve had these battles before, and I don’t think it’s exclusive to the right, Steve. I think that the left right now has a lot of battles confronting antisemitism also. But I think you want to have a marketplace that welcomes ideas, but also at the same time, when there are certain ideas that are so evil and we’ve been witnessed in history, I think you have to be careful that you’re not embracing those.

INSKEEP: Who do you see as emerging leaders of the Republican Party?

SHORT: You know, I think our focus is less on trying to crown or ordain a person, and it’s instead trying to hold firm to a set of ideas, Steve, and believing that that’s the role of outside conservative groups. And it’s not to become so enamored with any one individual that you follow them, regardless of the policies that they embrace. It’s to hold them accountable to say, here’s what conservatism is about.

INSKEEP: Would you defend Mike Pence at all against that accusation that we heard earlier that he’s just looking for a train back to relevance?

SHORT: Oh. I mean, look, I think the reality is that there’s a big reason why a lot of staff are coming to be a part of our organization. We can run steadily. The size of our budget continues to grow exponentially, and I think there’s a hankering to have conservatism back. And I think that’s what this is about.

INSKEEP: Marc Short, former chief of staff to Vice President Pence and chairman of the board at his think tank. Thanks so much.

SHORT: Thank you, Steve, for having me.

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