Pence Says ‘History Will Hold Donald Trump Accountable’ for Jan. 6
Former Vice President Mike Pence delivered his harshest criticism yet of his ex-boss over the weekend, mentioning the former president by name and saying “history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
Pence’s remarks at the Gridiron dinner came as he mulls a 2024 bid for the White House and as Republicans themselves debate the events that transpired that day when the capitol was attacked while Congress was certifying the electoral votes.
Trump had claimed Pence had the constitutional power to reject the electoral votes of certain states.
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said Saturday. “I had no right to overturn the election, and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day, and I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Pence’s comments about Trump were harsher than those in his recent book, So Help Me God, which was released last year. Some of the January 6 protesters chanted, “hang Mike Pence.”
Seemingly responding to his critics in the GOP, Pence added, “Tourists don’t injure 140 police officers by sightseeing. Tourists don’t break down doors to get to the Speaker of the House or voice threats against public officials.”
Pence cited data from the Capitol Police officer’s union, which said 65 D.C. police officers and 81 Capitol police officers were injured during the Jan. 6 attack.
“Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way,” he added.
The 12th Amendment of the Constitution says of the vice president’s role: “The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; – The person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President.” The vice president is the president of the Senate.
In the days since he left office, Pence has stood by the accomplishments of the Trump administration while citing his disagreements with Trump.
Last year he said he does not believe the 2020 election was stolen.
“There were voting irregularities in a number of states where election laws had been changed by either executive action or by the courts,” Pence said during a town hall, “[but] there was never evidence of widespread fraud. I don’t believe fraud changed the outcome of the election.”
Related:
Pence Says He Won’t Block Biden Certification: ‘I Will Keep the Oath I Made to Almighty God’
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Dia Dipasupil/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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