Pence-aligned group's president: Republicans won't fall in line behind Trump forever

The president of an advocacy group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence praised President Trump’s 2024 election victory in a new interview but argued that Republicans will not fall in line behind the commander-in-chief forever. 

Advancing American Freedom’s (AAF) president Tim Chapman stated that Trump currently is “at the height of his influence and power” within the GOP and that it will be harder to discover dissent during the early stages of his second administration.

But, he said, that might not be a “permanent environment” with various factions being part of the coalition the president forged during his recent Oval Office run. 

“This is not like a cakewalk. The administration has massive challenges in front of it, and I think, to their credit, they’ve built a very large coalition, but within that coalition, there are very diverse elements. You just start to think through the issues that they’re going to face,” Chapman said in his interview with The Washington Post that was published Friday morning. 

“Right out of the gate, they’re going to face issues with some of their nominees, like their HHS nominee is a lifelong pro-choice abortion advocate,” he added, referring to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on abortion.

Trump nominated Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

“They’re creating a tension within their own coalition. … They’ve created a tension in their coalition already, even before the inauguration, with the H-1B visa fight,” Chapman said, mentioning tension between hardline Republicans and right-wing tech billionaires about immigration.

AAF has already publicly dissented from some of Trump’s policy positions and nominations in recent weeks. The group has disagreed with the administration’s talk of imposing tariffs on allies and shown support for a ban on TikTok. The conservative group has also launched a six-figure ad campaign Wednesday opposing Kennedy’s nomination for HHS, The Hill reported. 

“They’ve got elements of their coalition that are very supportive of them, like you look at the House Freedom Caucus. I think the House Freedom Caucus wants to be there for President Trump, but I think there are elements of the House Freedom Caucus that are absolutely committed to using every leverage point throughout the next two years to push hard on the issue of federal spending,” Chapman said during the interview. “And how they navigate that is something that’s to be determined.” 

Chapman argued that conservative advocacy groups, which he says serve as “healthy accountability” partners, have made the party better, although he said that now some of those organizations only take directives from the leaders of the party. 

“And I think what you see happening right now, that’s a little bit concerning, is more and more conservative groups only taking their cues from the leadership of the party,” he said. “If that’s what they’re going to do, I really do question what the groups exist for. For us, we want to push back against that.”