Mike Pence Poaches Heritage Foundation Staff After Tucker Carlson–Nick Fuentes Blowup |
Former Vice President Mike Pence looks on before the funeral services for former Vice President Dick Cheney at the Washington National Cathedral, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025.Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Former Vice President Mike Pence poached over a dozen senior officials from the Heritage Foundation to join his own conservative think tank in the latest sign that all is not well in right-wing politics.
The Heritage Foundation is arguably the most prominent conservative think tank in America. Pence, meanwhile, started his competing think tank, Advancing American Freedom, to promote “exactly what the Trump-Pence Administration did every day.” Many prominent Republicans framed this to the Wall Street Journal as a return to conservative fundamentals, blocking out “what they see online.”
As my colleague Anna Merlan recently