Former US vice president Mike Pence delivered what may be his strongest rebuke to his former boss, Donald Trump, over the events of January 6, 2021. Pence said that the former president was wrong for inciting the violent insurrection in an effort to overturn the 2020 elections.
Pence delivered his strongest rebuke to his former boss during his remarks at an annual gridiron dinner in Washington DC on Saturday. The former vice president reiterated that he had no authority to overturn the election, to which Trump still claims he lost to Joe Biden due to voter fraud. Pence’s remarks over the weekend are the latest in the former vice president’s increasing criticism of the events of Jan. 6.
“President Trump was wrong,” said Pence. “I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Pence and Trump have been at odds since the incident, where a mob of the former president’s supporters stormed into the Capitol as Congress was to certify Biden’s election victory in an attempt to keep Trump in power. Some of the rioters who stormed the Capitol were also chanting for Pence to be hanged. Pence, as vice president at the time, was also the president of the Senate and only had the ceremonial duty to approve the votes by the Electoral College in favor of Biden.
The former vice president has also criticized his former boss over the insurrection in recent interviews. Back in November, Pence released a memoir, and he accused the former president of endangering his family.
With Trump previously announcing his intention to make another White House bid in 2024, Pence is also speculated to challenge his former boss. According to Politico, Pence’s advisers have encouraged the former vice president to directly rip into Trump during the dinner, as they believed that the event was a way for Pence to make clear what he has previously only quietly addressed regarding the Capitol insurrection.
The former vice president’s advisers saw that the sharp rebuke to Trump could help forge Pence’s profile as a presidential candidate.