Pence, Paul Ryan Plotted Against Trump During First Term: Mike Flynn
Retired three-star Army Gen. Michael Flynn — who spent decades in military intelligence and served briefly as President Donald J. Trump’s first-term national security adviser — has made explosive new claims implicating former Vice President Mike Pence and former House Speaker Paul Ryan in a covert effort to sideline Trump.
In a wide-ranging interview last week with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Flynn alleged that Pence and Ryan “actively plotted” against Trump and were prepared to seize control should he be forced out of office.
“You’re saying Paul Ryan and Mike Pence at least were in on this?” Johnson asked.
“Oh yeah, there’s no doubt about it,” Flynn replied. “Paul Ryan and Mike Pence wanted Trump out during the very famous, prior to the election in 2016, the ‘pu**y tapes.’ Okay, I’ll just say it like that, sorry. But those infamous tapes came out. I know at that time that there were discussions between Ryan, Reince Priebus, and Mike Pence about, well, if Trump steps down, then we’re gonna have a plan because they actually wanted… they were hopeful because that tape didn’t come out through Democrat operatives. So there was a plan for, you know, hopefully Trump’s going to step down and go, ‘screw this, you guys can have it.’ Those guys were ready to step right in.”
According to Flynn, this episode was early proof of what he calls “the Uniparty” — entrenched establishment figures on both sides of the aisle who resist President Trump’s “America First” agenda and cling to the globalist status quo.
“So, this is 2016,” Flynn explained. “So all the people out there that think, you know, all these guys are great because they’re Republicans? Sorry, they’re not. This is where the ‘Uniparty’ steps in and the Uniparty is one of these big problems that we face in this country because they don’t want to accept that we are in the midst of a revolution and a Marxist takeover.”
Flynn tied this internal resistance to a broader ideological battle that he says began under former President Barack Obama — one that sought to fundamentally remake America through socialist and globalist policy shifts.
“And Barack Obama… I mean, there’s no reason in the world why Barack Obama should have ever won the first time around, but he did. Because there was a push by a lot of people because they knew this was the opportunity that they had to start this turnover of our country, okay? Eight years of Barack, eight years of Hillary, we’d be done,” he said.
Flynn described the present moment as a decisive turning point under President Trump’s second term, insisting that the nation is undergoing a “political and spiritual reckoning.”
“So now, here’s where we are at today on your show, you know, here in America, with this, you know, bill that’s about to happen, and Trump has got a lot of authority, right? A lot of leadership authority that he’s been given by the judgment of the American people, by the majority of the American people, the way our country is supposed to be run. And in that judgment, he’s going to have to make a decision. This is kind of where I keep saying, ‘enough is enough,’” Flynn said.
“He’s going to have to make a decision about how and who to hold accountable. And he’s going to have to turn,” Flynn added, suggesting that Trump will soon face critical choices on justice and accountability.
Flynn then reminded viewers of the immense constitutional power vested in the presidency — particularly regarding law enforcement and national security.
“I want people to remember that the chief law enforcement officer in the country is not the Attorney General, it’s not the Attorney General. The chief law enforcement in the country is the President of the United States. We always say, you know, he’s the President, and he’s the Commander in Chief. He’s also the chief law enforcement officer in the country. He’s the only one with pardon authority at that level, right?” he explained.
Flynn concluded, “And he can declare things based on national security and national emergency issues alone. So he can decide which direction the country goes, and he does it because the majority of the judgment of the American people were imbued into his ability to be able to do that. That’s where we are.”
The retired general’s statements highlight a growing divide within the Republican Party — between those still loyal to the America First movement and those whom conservatives view as aligned with the political establishment.