Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence delivered the harshest criticism to date of former President Donald Trump this Saturday, saying that history will judge him for his role in the January 6 Capitol attack. 2021.
Pence was on Capitol Hill when thousands of Trump supporters stormed the building to try to stop Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump had lost to Joe Biden.
As the Vice President accumulates the constitutional position of President of the Senate, Pence was carrying out what has always been a ceremonial function of approving the Electoral College votes that choose the President and Vice President.
During the attack, Trump published several tweets, one of which called on Republicans to “fight” and others in which he spread the false thesis that there was electoral fraud. He also criticized Pence for certifying the results.
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said during a meeting with journalists at the Gridiron Room at an annual formal event in Washington. “I had no right to reverse the election, and your words endangered my family and everyone in the Capitol that day, and I know that history will one day hold Donald Trump accountable,” he added.
Pence, who is considering running for the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election, was taken to safety by security forces during the attack.
In the months since, Pence has rarely addressed the events of January 6, but more recently he has been critical of supporters who stormed the Capitol, as well as the former President. He sharply criticized Trump’s conduct in recent interviews and, in a memoir published in November, accused the former president of endangering his family.
Still, Pence’s comments on Saturday were his toughest yet.
“What happened that day was a disgrace. And it would be indecent to frame it in any other way, ”she said. “As long as I live, I will never, ever downplay the injuries caused, the lives lost or the heroism of the security forces on that tragic day.”
A Trump spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on Pence’s remarks.
The relationship between Trump and Pence has been complex since they both left the White House. Pence criticized the former President’s behavior, but refrained from making more scathing criticisms. He also rejected cooperating with the House of Representatives commission that has been investigating the attack on the Capitol, saying the work carried out by the majority Democratic body is partisan.
The former vice president’s comments on Saturday show he is willing to distance himself further and further from Trump as the 2024 campaign heats up, even if it means alienating millions of Republican voters who remain loyal to the former president.
Pence’s comments come just days after conservative television host Tucker Carlson released security footage of the Capitol attack, saying many of the attackers were “orderly”. Carlson’s portrayal of the events of January 6 was highly criticized by Democrats and senior GOP figures in the Senate, although most Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives, downplayed the episode.