Mike Pence has categorically refuted Donald Trump’s false claims that the US Vice President could have somehow overturned the result of the 2020 presidential election — he claims the former president simply “wrong” about it.
Posted at 4:50 p.m.
In a speech Friday to the conservative Federalist Society of Florida, Mr. Pence referred to Mr. Trump’s intensified efforts this week to advance the false thesis that the US vice president could have done something to prevent Joe Biden from being elected.
“President Trump is wrong: I had no right to void the election,” Mr. Pence said bluntly.
While he has in the past defended his actions on Jan. 6 and said he and Mr. Trump will probably never really agree on what happened that day, his comments on Friday constitute his most recent rebuttal. more energetic to date. And they come as Mr Pence has laid the groundwork for his eventual bid for the presidency in 2024, which could put him in direct competition with his former boss, who has also hinted at a comeback.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Trump argued that the “January 6 committee” charged with investigating the deadly assault on the Capitol should instead ask “why Mike Pence did not return the votes, for a new certification or a new approval”.
And last Sunday he lambasted Mr Pence, falsely saying that “he could have voided the election”, under the Constitution.
The vice presidents play only a ceremonial role during the counting of votes from the Electoral College to Congress. Any attempt to interfere with this process would have represented a profound break with democratic precedents and norms in the United States.
On Friday, Mr. Pence described Jan. 6, 2021, as “a dark day in the history of the Capitol.” He was inside the building that day, presiding over the joint session of Congress to certify the presidential election, when a mob of incumbent President Trump’s supporters violently stormed inside the Capitol, assaulting police officers. and stalking the chosen ones in the corridors.
Mr Pence, who issued a statement earlier that day to clarify that he had no power to overrule American voters, was rushed to safety by security as some rioters chanted “Mike Pence on the gallows!” “.
“The American people should know that we will always uphold our oath to the Constitution, even if it would be politically expedient to do otherwise,” he said Friday.
Mr. Pence also acknowledged the lingering anger within Mr. Trump’s activist base. “The truth is there is more at stake than our party or our political future. Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we will not only lose the elections: we will lose our country. »