Pence, eyeing 2024 presidential bid, launches group to defend Trump-era policies from "liberal attacks and media distortions"

Former Vice President Mike Pence is beginning to reemerge after the end of the Trump administration with the launch of a new group to counter the policies of the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

The former vice president has mostly kept out of public view since Inauguration Day, focusing mostly on some early work with conservative organizations and the arrival of a new grandchild. But on Wednesday, he launched Advancing American Freedom, an entity, he said in a statement, that would "promote the pro-freedom policies of the last four years that created unprecedented prosperity at home and restored respect for America abroad."

The new group will enable Pence to maintain his political profile and serve as his vehicle to help defend Trump-era policies. A senior aide said the former vice president is likely to focus especially on the Biden administration's evolving immigration and border security policies and the current president's proposal to raise corporate tax rates to pay for a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure plan.

According to the senior aide, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the plans, the new group is designed to "merge traditional conservative values with the Make America Great agenda."

Successfully executing that merger in the coming years will be essential for any Republican not named Donald Trump who's thinking about running for president in 2024. As the GOP awaits a decision by the former president about whether or not he'll join the contest, several other Trump-aligned GOP leaders are making early moves: Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who's traveled in recent weeks to Iowa; Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's earning plaudits from conservative leaders for his management of the coronavirus pandemic in his state; Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton; Texas Senator Ted Cruz; and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley. Others outside the Trump sphere of influence, including Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, are also mulling White House bids.