Pence Refutes Trump's Allegation That He Might Have Swung The 2020 Race In His Favor
Former US Vice President Mike Pence, in a stinging rebuke of his former boss, said on Friday that Trump was mistaken in believing Pence had the capacity to overturn the conclusion of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump has erroneously claimed was stolen from him.
After losing his re-election effort to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020, Republican Trump pressed Pence to withhold congressional certification of the results on January 6, 2021, while presiding over the proceedings.
During Trump's chaotic four-year presidency, Pence, a devoted subordinate, chose not to prevent certification.
In an address to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Pence declared, "President Trump is mistaken." "I had no legal authority to annul the election."
"The presidency belongs to the people of the United States, and the people of the United States alone." And, frankly, no thought is more un-American than the idea that any single person could choose the president of the United States," Pence concluded.
Pence's remarks were his most vehement condemnation of Trump to date. A request for response from a Trump official was not immediately returned.
"I realize how dissatisfied many people are with the results of the recent election. I had my name on the ballot "Pence stated his opinion. "Whatever the future brings, I'm confident we fulfilled our responsibilities that day. Duty is ours; outcomes are God's, as John Quincy Adams tells us "Pence went on to say, invoking a 19th-century American president.
"And the truth is that there's a lot more at risk than our political fortunes. Men and women, if we lose faith in the Constitution, we will lose not only elections, but our country as well "Pence went on to say.
Later on Friday, Trump made a statement in which he expressed his disagreement with Pence.