WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday sharply criticized former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle for the upcoming Republican nomination. . elections of the year.
“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said during remarks at the annual Gridiron dinner attended by politicians and reporters. “I had no right to overturn the elections. And his reckless words put my family and everyone on Capitol Hill at risk that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Pence’s remarks were the strongest condemnation yet from the once-loyal lieutenant, who has often avoided confronting his former boss. Trump has already declared his candidacy. Pence didn’t, but he set the stage for the races.
In the days leading up to January 6, 2021, Trump lobbied Pence to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory while he presided over the certification ceremony. Pence refused, and as rioters stormed the Capitol, some chanted that they wanted to hang Mike Pence.
The House committee that investigated the attack said in its final report that “the president of the United States enraged a mob that was following his own vice president.”
With his remarks, Pence cemented his place in a larger debate within the Republican Party about how to view the attack. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for example, recently provided Tucker Carlson with an archive of security camera footage from January 6, which the Fox News host used to downplay the day’s events and promote conspiracy theories.
“Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace,” Pence said in his Gridiron Dinner remarks. “And it’s a mockery of decency to portray her otherwise.”
Meanwhile, Trump continued to spread lies about his election defeat. He even spoke out in support of the rioters and said he would consider pardoning them if re-elected.
Gridiron Dinner speeches are usually humorous affairs where politicians poke fun at each other, and Pence did a lot of it.
He joked that Trump’s ego was so fragile that he wanted his vice president to sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” – one of the lines was “did you ever know you were my hero?” — during weekly lunches.
He also hit Trump over classified documents.
“I read that some of those confidential documents that they found at Mar-a-Lago were actually locked up in the president’s Bible,” Pence said. “Which proves he had no idea I was there.”
Shortly before the end of the dinner, Pence came under fire for his jokes about Transportation Secretary Buttigieg, the first openly gay cabinet member in US history.
Pence noted that despite travel issues affecting Americans, Buttigieg took “maternity leave” after he and her husband adopted newborn twins.
“Pete is the only person in human history who has a baby and everyone else suffers from postpartum depression,” Pence said. ___
Megerian reported from Wilmington, Delaware.
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