In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, former Vice President Mike Pence said that cuts to Medicare and Social Security should be “on the table in the long term,” breaking with his former boss, former President Donald Trump.
Pence also appeared to take a swipe at the former president, telling the outlet that Republicans are “going to have better choices” in 2024, while staying mum about his own White House prospects next year.
The former vice president told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that he was “hoping for a red wave” in last year’s midterm elections — and while certain parts of the country, like Florida and the New York suburbs saw Republican gains, Pence said, he acknowledged that the 2022 elections were “an affirmation that elections are about the future.”
“Our candidates who were focused on the issues affecting Americans today, solutions for the future, did very well,” Pence said, highlighting gubernatorial wins in Georgia, Florida and Texas. “Our candidates that were focused on the past, particularly on relitigating the last election, did not do well, including in areas that we should have done very well, including in areas that we should have done very well.”
“I think we’re going to have better choices” in 2024, Pence said, without mentioning Trump by name.
When asked if a crowded primary could help boost Trump’s candidacy again, Pence said that they were “leaving somebody out of the equation … the American people.”
“I don’t think anybody could have defeated Hillary Clinton other than Donald Trump in 2016,” Pence said, acknowledging that he backed Ted Cruz in Indiana’s primary. “But Republican voters were right for what we needed in that fight. I just trust Republican voters.”
In terms of his own potential White House bid? “I’ll keep you posted,” Pence told the outlet.
When it comes to Medicare and Social Security — a recent flashpoint in the political world after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month — Pence said that lawmakers must consider cuts to the entitlement programs going forward.
Pence praised House Republicans who are calling for spending cuts in exchange for an increase to the debt limit.
“I’m glad to see the Republican majority saying we need to use this debt ceiling to start us back in the direction of fiscal discipline, but we all know where the real issue is in terms of long-term debt,” Pence said.
“While I respect [House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's] commitment to take Social Security and Medicare off the table for the debt ceiling negotiations, we’ve got to put them on the table in the long term,” the former vice president said, adding: “We’re looking at a debt crisis in this country over the next 25 years that is driven by entitlements, and nobody in Washington, D.C., wants to talk about it.”
Pence’s comments on Medicare and Social Security appear put him in direct conflict with leaders in his own party, as well as former President Trump, who has urged Republicans not to touch the entitlement programs.
Trump has attacked a number of Republicans over their stance on Medicare and Social Security in recent weeks — he slammed fellow 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley over her support for former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal to cut Medicare in a recent campaign email, and took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential GOP candidate who has not yet launched a White House bid.
“Ron DeSanctimonious wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
Trump also vowed in a recent speech to a group of supporters that “under no circumstances will we allow anyone to cut Medicare or Social Security for our nation’s seniors.”