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Marc Short, chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, is shown speaking with reporters at the White House in September 2019. Alex Brandon/Associated Press file Marc Short has a lot to say about the 2024 presidential election, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and what he sees as a “significant realignment” of the political parties on issues of foreign policy, the economy and social issues.
The former chief of staff for Vice President Michael Pence is now a contributor on news programs such as NBC’s Meet the Press and a Fellow at Georgetown University, where he leads seminars on political realignment. He is coming to Maine to speak to students at Colby College in Waterville on Wednesday as part of the college’s “In the News” series, which brings together students and people with first-hand experience in politics, policy and the press. There are some things Short doesn’t want to talk about, however.
Short was with Pence when he was evacuated from the Capitol on Jan. 6 as rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence.” He told the Press Herald that former President Donald Trump had a “central role and central responsibility” for what happened.
But Short would not say who he plans to vote for this fall. “The great thing,” Short said, “is those are private decisions and I plan to keep that private.” Short spoke with the Press Herald Friday about his experiences in the first Trump administration, the Jan.
6 Capitol attack, the state of the country’s political system and the upcoming election. Prior to joining Pence’s staff, Short worked as Trump’s director of legislative affairs, where he helped presidential appointees navigate the confirmation process, including those appointed to the U.S.
Supreme Court. He played a role in the appointments of conservative justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The new conservative majority eventually overturned Roe V.
Wade, ending a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. The 2022 decision lit a fire under Democrats and has propelled them to electoral victories ever since. Reproductive rights remain a potent issue for Democrats locally and nationally this cycle.
Short said he doesn’t have any second thoughts about helping cement a conservative majority on the court, even though Republicans have been playing defense ever since. Instead, he thinks Republicans simply need to articulate the types of restrictions, whether federal or state, they would enact if given the chance. “Our side needs to have a more coherent argument about what our position is going forward,” Short said.
“But I don’t think it’s surprising after that decision that the left would be more energized politically. That doesn’t change my mind that it was a mistake. I feel like it’s more important to get the ruling right, regardless of the political consequences.
” Vice President Mike Pence’s Chief of Staff Marc Short, center, listens as Vice President Mike Pence answers questions during a White House meeting about the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2020. Andrew Harnik/Associated Press file Short has criticized the platform Republicans adopted over the summer that softens the party’s stance against abortion and jettisoned language defining marriage as between a man and a woman. The platform also aligned with Trump’s policy positions on immigration, trade and foreign policy.
Those are the issues that Short sees as examples of his party drifting away from traditional conservative values. Rather than embrace free trade, Republicans now support high tariffs on foreign goods. Rather than supporting allies, Republicans now espouse international isolationism.
Rather than welcoming “guest labor,” Republicans now want to close the border. “I do think our party needs to have an honest internal fight about what the direction is going to be for our party going forward because if we don’t offer a significant contrast to the vision I feel like the progressive left offers, then ..
. I think that hurts us long term,” Short said. Short said he plans to provide students with anecdotes highlighting the weeks-long pressure campaign leading up to Jan.
6 from Trump and his allies to convince Pence to overturn the election results, as well as what it was like to be evacuated from the Capitol as an angry mob closed in on them, some of whom were chanting “hang Mike Pence!” “We consistently explained that this was not an authority that any vice president had used in the 250 years of our republic and seemed to be fairly fabricated – the notion that our founders would have wanted any one person to have the authority to decide what states you wanted to receive their electors and which ones you didn’t,” he said. Prior to the riots, Trump held a large rally, called out Pence several times and urged his followers to march to the Capitol and “fight like hell” that day. Short said Trump was “obviously a central player and had a central responsibility for the events of Jan.
6.” But he also accused Democrats of contributing to erosion of trust in elections, since some Democrats have previously voted against certifying the results of presidential elections won by Republicans. “I think sadly Republicans had watched Democrats do that and many of the congressional Republicans picked up that play in their decision and their theory they would vote not to certify,” he said.
“I in no way mean this to excuse the actions of President Trump. I really don’t. But I do believe that both sides have been complicit in undermining the confidence the American people have in our democracy.
” Trump is now looking to return to the White House. He is locked in a close race with Vice President Kamala Harris, now that President Joe Biden withdrew after a disastrous debate performance made Democrats worry about a Republican rout this fall. Some analyses suggest that Trump could win by achieving the minimum number of electoral votes required, 270, to become president.
In that scenario, Trump would have to hold onto Maine’s 2nd Congressional District for the third straight time. U.S.
Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat representing that same district, made waves over the summer when he predicted a Trump victory in November while criticizing the Democratic Party’s claim that reelecting Trump would jeopardize the future of democracy. Short said he agrees with Golden’s assessment, saying the foundation established by the founders remains strong.
“We’ve been through some turbulent times as a nation,” he said. “I think the notion that Donald Trump wakes up in some pursuit of some authoritarian rule to overthrow democracy is silly. I think the Democrats overplay their hand with those allegations.
” He continued: “I think foundationally, as a conservative, you have to believe in the rule of law over the rule of man. I think there’s no excuse for the actions of President Trump and his team around Jan. 6.
At the same time I worked in the White House all four years and I never witnessed something that was focused on how do we undermine democracy and how do we look to install a different form of government. I do think that rhetoric can be overplayed.” Short said he is frustrated that Republicans aren’t publicly criticizing Trump for policy positions that are at odds with traditional conservatism – something he said they will do in private conversations.
Short hopes to inspire students and “people with integrity” to choose a life of public service. “I think that right now many of the incentive structures are designed so that you have more performance artists running for Congress than people who are committed to constitutional principles,” he said. Are you a new voter? We’d like to hear from you.
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