About two years after leaving office, erstwhile United Stated Vice President, has revealed how his life and that of his family were endangered by “reckless” comments made by former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021, during the invasion of the Capitol Building by Trump supporters.
Pence revealed to ABC’s David Muir in an interview that the ex-president’s words during the insurrection “endangered his life, his family and everyone at the Capitol building” that day.
During the infamous invasion, Pence was in the midst of leading a joint session of Congress when the angry mob broke into the building to prevent Congress from counting the 2020 Electoral College votes and affirming Joe Biden as president-elect.
In a speech to his supporters shortly before the attack, Trump had urged them to walk to the U.S. Capitol “peacefully” but also added: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
In the interview which held on Sunday but aired late night Monday, Pence said: “The president’s words that day at the rally endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol building.”
Trump had insisted that Pence had the authority to overturn the election results but in a statement Pence issued on January 6, the then Vice President said he could not change the outcome of the election.
“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 can choose the president,” Pence said when asked if he did not antagonize Trump by not carrying out his orders.
Pence has, on different occasions, publicly criticized his former boss several times since the January 6 insurgence.
In February, while addressing The Federalist Society, a conservative and libertarian legal organization, Pence called January 6 a “dark day,” and again said that Trump was wrong in claiming he could overturn the election.
Read more authentic news on our social media platforms