Mike Pence Confirms The Issue He'll Always Disagree With Donald Trump On
Mike Pence has never pushed back hard on Donald Trump's claims that he had the power to overturn the 2020 election during the certification of President Joe Biden's victory on January 6, 2021. Many have been surprised that Pence never spoke out against Trump's allegations about his ability to change the election results, especially since then-Vice President Pence was one of the main targets during the January 6 insurrection. According to the New York Post, the violent mob chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" and a member of the insurrection on the Senate floor shouted, "Where's Pence? Show yourself!" during the attack on the Capitol. There was even a noose hanging from a gallows outside the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection.
In a January 30 email to followers, Trump wrote that "Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn't exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!" However, the former vice president made a statement about Trump at a Federalist Society gathering that has since raised eyebrows.
Mike Pence says Donald Trump was 'wrong' about overturning the election
Mike Pence blasted Donald Trump on February 4, saying the former president was "wrong" about his ability to overturn the 2020 election. According to the New York Post, the former vice president even called the idea of overturning the election "un-American." The Post reported that, at a Federalist Society gathering in Orlando, Pence said, "I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election." Former Vice President Pence continued, "The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election."
After losing the 2020 election, and then losing more than 60 battles in court, Trump claimed that Biden was not legally elected. CNN reported Trump and his allies tried to bully Pence into overturning the election on January 6, despite having no power to do so. The former president criticized Pence ahead of the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. Trump told the mob marching to the Capitol that the vice president didn't have the "courage" to reject state electors voting for then-President-elect Joe Biden. Despite the former president's continued claims about Pence's ability to challenge the election results, this was the first time Pence went against Trump's claims.