Conservative HQ Chairman Richard Viguerie asserted in a recent column posted on his organization’s website that Pence steadily and solidly shored up now-President Donald Trump’s right flank when he was a candidate during the often-chaotic days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

The conservative activist impressed that once in office, Pence has been the conservative voice whispering in Trump’s ear.

“Pence is filling a void that’s been there for so many years,” Viguerie maintained. “And I don’t see anybody on the horizon who will be able to challenge him for the foreseeable future. He’s checking all the boxes and doing all the right things to be the heir apparent after Trump leaves the White House.”

Viguerie also stressed that right now, Pence is in an ideal position to remind Trump that it was the conservative base of the GOP that propelled him into office.

“If the president is hearing from other voices that are not conservative as he is, I’m sure [that] on a regular basis, Mike Pence will be invaluable to be there on his right hand [to] point out to him that he must keep his base – and if he ever loses his base, he’s going to have real serious political problems.”

 Viguerie hopes that in quietly pushing Trump and the Congress to the Right, Pence will set the stage to one day be elected the second conservative president of the modern era.