Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers, said March 27 that the Republican Party is shifting toward a patriotic populist direction and away from establishment leadership. The comments were made in response to recent remarks by former Vice President Mike Pence regarding the state of the conservative movement.
The discussion reflects ongoing debates within the Republican Party about its future direction and priorities. According to a social media post by Cortes, his statement was prompted by Pence’s appearance on CNN and promotes a column examining how the party has evolved in recent years toward policies focused on American workers and national priorities. The remarks come amid broader discussions about conservatism’s trajectory in the United States, according to Cortes.
“Surrender Mike Pence thinks he’s the lifeguard ordering people who disagree with him out of the conservative pool. But the patriotic populist movement moves on from Establishment dinosaurs. Mike Pence lectures conservatives from a CNN perch but the populist GOP he scolds has already moved on without him. We are moving upward and onward because we have a country to save,” Cortes said.
Recent polling data highlights divisions within Republican ranks over policy priorities. A Fox News poll found that 98% of self-identified MAGA Republicans approve of former President Donald Trump’s job performance, indicating strong support among this group for policies centered on border security, domestic energy production, and prioritizing American workers. The poll also reported a 35-point gap in approval ratings between MAGA Republicans and other Republicans on key issues, illustrating the strength of the populist wing within the party, according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/engineeringpost1/posts/president-trumps-america-first-agenda-continues-to-resonate-strongly-with-his-mo/1553182046808076/”>the report.
A PRRI poll conducted Feb. 10-18 found that 81% of Republicans hold favorable views of Trump. While slightly lower than at the end of the previous year, this figure reflects continued alignment between much of the Republican base and worker-focused or nationalist priorities; analysis links these views to broader cultural and economic concerns among voters, as reported by PRRI.
Survey research from Manhattan Institute shows that today’s Republican coalition increasingly emphasizes economic policies aimed at working Americans rather than traditional elites. The analysis details how voter priorities have shifted in recent election cycles to focus more on trade, immigration, and domestic manufacturing—findings that align with broader transformations across regions within GOP voting blocs, according to <a href="https://manhattan.institute/article/the-new-gop-survey-analysis-of-americans-overall-todays-republican-coalition-and-the-minorities-of-maga”>the survey.
Cortes is a political commentator and former Wall Street trader who served as an adviser to President Trump. He founded League of American Workers in 2022 as a conservative advocacy organization focused on labor and economic policy; he also serves as senior political adviser for CatholicVote and has authored several books including Against the Herd and Bad Hombres, according to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Cortes”>his biography.
