Mike Pence Takes Teaching Role at George Mason University

After a failed bid to dethrone Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries, former Vice President Mike Pence is heading to the classroom.

George Mason University announced that Pence will join the Schar School of Policy and Government as a "distinguished professor of practice." Starting in the spring semester, Pence will teach undergraduate courses, hold public seminars, and participate in mentorship programs focused on law, political science, and public administration.

According to the university, Pence’s new role will include moderated student discussions, reinforcing his "conservative philosophy" and "disciplined approach to communication." But to many conservatives, this move looks less like leadership and more like a quiet exit from the political battlefield he once helped command.

For four years, Pence served loyally under President Donald Trump, helping drive the administration's pro-life, pro-growth, pro-America agenda. But all of that changed on January 6, 2021, when Pence oversaw the certification of the 2020 election results despite massive public pressure and mounting evidence of election irregularities. While Trump and millions of Americans believed the election was deeply compromised, Pence chose to play along with the establishment narrative.

That moment marked a turning point:

• Pence’s favorability among GOP voters dropped to just 34% by mid-2023, according to Morning Consult.

• His 2024 campaign struggled to raise more than $3.3 million in its first quarter a fraction of what Trump and other top-tier candidates hauled in.

• He suspended his campaign in October 2023 after polling in the low single digits in early primary states.

Despite positioning himself as the flag bearer of “principled conservatism,” Pence never resonated with the base, which has increasingly embraced Trump’s America First movement. His attempts to frame Trump’s populism as a danger to the party fell flat in a Republican electorate hungry for bold, outsider leadership not lectures on "fidelity to the Constitution" from someone seen as having abandoned the fight when it mattered most.

Now, instead of facing voters, Pence will face college students in Northern Virginia just outside the D.C. swamp he spent decades navigating. While some in academia may welcome him as a thoughtful conservative voice, others will see his new role for what it really is: a soft landing for a politician whose time in the arena has come to an end.

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