Greater than a 12 months after the assault, Pence instructed a bunch of conservative attorneys that Trump was “incorrect” to suppose a single individual might overturn the need of voters. In November, as Pence promoted his memoir and mulled a run for president, he started to put blame. No less than seven occasions during the last 4 months, Pence has publicly mentioned that Trump’s “reckless” phrases fueled the rebel.
The newest assertion got here in a speech at a white-tie dinner hosted by journalists on Saturday evening, throughout which Pence mentioned: “President Trump was incorrect. I had no proper to overturn the election. And his reckless phrases endangered my household and everybody on the Capitol that day, and I do know historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable.”
The remarks have been almost word-for-word what Pence mentioned in earlier interviews, with an added name for accountability — even after he declined to take part in a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 assault and as he continues to combat a grand jury subpoena for a prison investigation.
Right here’s a timeline of what Pence has mentioned in regards to the Jan. 6 assault and Trump:
Jan. 6, 2021: Rioters ‘can be prosecuted’
As vice chairman, Pence presided over the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6. He’d confronted stress from Trump’s inside circle for weeks to make use of this function to refuse to certify some states that Joe Biden gained.
As Pence ready to journey to the U.S. Capitol to supervise that certification, Trump held a rally on the White Home grounds and mentioned: “Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to get up for the nice of our Structure and for the nice of our nation. … And for those who’re not, I’m going to be very disenchanted in you.”
Quickly after, as rioters arrived on the Capitol grounds, Pence posted a letter on Twitter calling his function “largely ceremonial” and making clear that he wouldn’t stand in the best way of the switch of energy. The letter doesn’t point out Trump by identify.
At 2:20 p.m., the Senate was referred to as into recess as a result of rioters breached the Capitol constructing. Pence and his household have been taken to a safe location. 4 minutes later, Trump wrote on Twitter: “Mike Pence didn’t have the braveness to do what ought to have been achieved to guard our Nation and our Structure.”
At 3:35 p.m., as lawmakers and others referred to as on Trump to induce the rioters to face down, the vice chairman called for an end to the violence on Twitter and mentioned “these concerned can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the legislation.” Throughout the hour, Trump put out a video assertion with a lot softer language.
Pence reopened the Senate at 8 p.m. He didn’t publicly say something about Trump.
Peaceable protest is the best of each American however this assault on our Capitol is not going to be tolerated and people concerned can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the legislation.
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) January 6, 2021
Jan. 7, 2021: ‘You didn’t win’ to rioters
At 3:32 a.m., Pence officially affirmed Biden’s win.
“To those that wreaked havoc in our Capitol in the present day: You didn’t win,” Pence mentioned in a ground speech. “Violence by no means wins. Freedom wins. And that is nonetheless the individuals’s home. And as we reconvene on this chamber the world will once more witness the resilience and power of our democracy.” He didn’t point out Trump or GOP lawmakers who voted in opposition to the election’s certification.
June 3, 2021: ‘I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day’
About 4 months after leaving workplace, Pence spoke at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire and forged the previous president as merely having a special perspective on what occurred on the Capitol. “President Trump and I’ve spoken many occasions since we left workplace,” Pence said. “And I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day. However I’ll at all times be happy with what we completed for the American individuals during the last 4 years.”
Later that month, Pence gave a speech at a conservative convention in Florida, and the crowd chanted: “Traitor!”
June 24, 2021: ‘Un-American’ to overturn election outcomes
In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Pence defined that the vice chairman doesn’t possess “the authority to reject or return electoral votes licensed by states.”
“And the reality is, there’s nearly no thought extra un-American than the notion that anybody individual might select the American president,” Pence mentioned.
He repeatedly praised Trump however didn’t straight join him to the Capitol assault and attacked Democrats investigating the Jan. 6 assault for being “intent on dividing our nation to advance their leftist agenda.”
Dec. 1, 2021: ‘I do know I did the best factor’ on Jan. 6
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Pence reiterated that he “did the best factor” in certifying the election outcomes. Pence mentioned he believed “there have been irregularities” in voting, however mentioned he didn’t suppose Congress was the suitable venue to resolve these disputes as a result of “elections are to be ruled on the state stage.”
“I do know in my coronary heart of hearts that on that day, we did our obligation, below the Structure,” Pence mentioned. He added: “I don’t know if President Trump and I’ll ever see eye to eye on that day. Or that a lot of our most ardent supporters will agree with my resolution that day. However I do know I did the best factor.”
Feb. 4, 2022: ‘President Trump is incorrect’
Greater than a 12 months after the assault, Pence instructed a crowd of conservative attorneys at a Federalist Society conference that Trump was “incorrect” to say that Pence had the authority to overturn the 2020 election outcomes. He reiterated that it’s “un-American” to attempt to subvert elections and mentioned that Jan. 6 was a “darkish day within the historical past of the US Capitol.”
Oct. 14, 2022: Trump-Pence relationship ‘broke down’ after 2020
Pence’s identify repeatedly got here up throughout hearings held by the Home committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault, and a number of other of his advisers and former aides testified. However he by no means did. The day after the committee held its ultimate listening to earlier than the midterm election, snippets of Pence’s soon-to-be-published memoir emerged on Oct. 14.
The jacket copy of the memoir mentioned: “On January 6, 2021, because the president pressured him to overturn the election, a mob erected a gallows on Capitol Hill and its members chanted ‘Hold Mike Pence!’ as they rampaged by way of the halls of Congress. The vice chairman refused to go away the Capitol, and as soon as the riot was quelled, he reconvened Congress to finish the work of a peaceable switch of energy.”
The memoir additionally described a “tight bond” between Pence and Trump that “broke down after the 2020 election.”
Nov. 13, 2022: Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 have been ‘reckless’ and ‘endangered me and my household’
As Pence ready for the Nov. 15 launch of his memoir, he mentioned in an interview with ABC News that Trump’s “phrases that day on the rally endangered me and my household and everybody on the Capitol constructing.” He added that Trump’s feedback have been “reckless” and mentioned, “It was clear he determined to be a part of the issue.”
“I turned to my daughter, who was standing close by, and I mentioned, ‘It doesn’t take braveness to interrupt the legislation. It takes braveness to uphold the legislation,’” Pence mentioned.
Nov. 15, 2022: ‘The president had determined to be a part of the issue’
Pence’s memoir, titled “So Assist Me God,” opens with the Jan. 6 assault. He blames Trump for believing “crank” attorneys who laid the groundwork for “a tragic day in January” and for egging on the rioters together with his tweet.
“The reality was, as reckless because the president’s tweet was, I actually didn’t have time for it. Rioters have been ransacking the Capitol,” Pence wrote. “A few of them, I used to be later instructed, have been chanting, ‘Hold Mike Pence!’ The president had determined to be a part of the issue. I used to be decided to be a part of the answer. I ignored the tweet and acquired again to work.”
Pence additionally wrote that Trump instructed him he was being “too sincere” when he refused to assist in overturning the 2020 election outcomes.
Pence wrote within the guide’s epilogue that the 2 males couldn’t reconcile given Trump’s continued assaults on his resolution to not contest the election. “I made a decision it could be greatest to go our separate methods.” He wrote that he instructed Trump he’d proceed to hope for him.
Nov. 18, 2022: ‘I hope the Justice Division is cautious’
In an interview with NBC News, Pence blamed Trump’s authorized counsel for deceptive him in regards to the 2020 election and mentioned he hoped the Division of Justice wouldn’t cost the previous president.
“I feel the president’s actions and phrases on January sixth have been reckless,” Pence mentioned. “However I don’t know that it’s prison to take unhealthy recommendation from attorneys. And so I hope the Justice Division is cautious.”
Nov. 20, 2022: Trump’s ‘phrases and actions in and round January 6 have been reckless’
Throughout a CBS News “Face the Nation” interview, Pence repeated his speaking factors but once more.
“The president’s phrases and actions in and round January 6 have been reckless,” Pence mentioned. He added that Trump’s tweets on Jan. 6 “endangered my household and endangered people who have been within the Capitol and was indefensible.”
In a clip of the interview printed on Nov. 16, 2022, Pence additionally mentioned he was “closing the door” on talking with the Home committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault. The committee referred to as the transfer “disappointing” in an announcement.
Nov. 22, 2022: Is Trump a great man? ‘Solely God is aware of our hearts’
And Pence repeated these speaking factors once more throughout an NPR interview. “President Trump was incorrect, and his phrases and actions that day have been reckless,” Pence mentioned. “They endangered my household and other people on the Capitol constructing. And I’ll by no means maintain every other view.”
Requested whether or not he nonetheless considers Trump a “good man,” as he mentioned in the course of the 2016 speech accepting his vice-presidential nomination, Pence replied, “I really do consider that solely God is aware of our hearts,” and “I’ll go away it to others to make their very own judgments.”
Nov. 29, 2022: ‘Congress has no proper to my testimony’
And Pence repeated these phrases once more throughout an appearance at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics: “His phrases have been reckless. They endangered my household, and so they endangered everybody on the Capitol. … In that second, he determined to be a part of the issue.”
Pence additionally defined his reasoning for rebuffing congressional inquiries. “Congress has no proper to my testimony,” Pence instructed the viewers. When requested why he wrote a guide about his account however didn’t testify to the Home, he mentioned, “I feel the American individuals deserve my story.”
Dec. 1, 2022: Trump felt ‘a deep regret’ about Jan. 6
In a December interview with PBS News Hour, Pence mentioned he met with Trump a number of days after the assault. Trump didn’t apologize, Pence mentioned, however the former vice chairman mentioned he sensed “a deep regret” inside Trump.
Host Judy Woodruff pressed Pence on why he supported the Trump marketing campaign’s post-election lawsuits and wouldn’t declare Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud weren’t backed up by proof.
“It by no means occurred to me … that the violence of that day would ensue,” Pence mentioned. “And the tragedy that unfolded that day was one thing that I, frankly, by no means imagined.”
Feb. 15: Pence fights DOJ subpoena in Jan. 6 investigation
The Justice Division issued Pence a subpoena as a part of the special counsel investigating potential prison interference by Trump within the 2020 election, media shops reported on Feb. 9. Pence’s authorized counsel has determined to combat the order.
Speaking to reporters in Iowa on Feb. 15, Pence mentioned the subpoena was “unconstitutional” and that he’d combat the case “so far as it must go, if wants be to the Supreme Courtroom of the US.”
“No vice chairman in American historical past has ever been compelled to testify in opposition to a president with whom they served. However we reside in unprecedented occasions,” Pence said during a Feb. 16 speech by which he vowed to “combat the subpoena from Biden’s DOJ.”
March 11: ‘Historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable’
As a featured speaker at the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner, Pence cracked jokes about Trump’s authorized troubles and made his strongest rebuke but of Trump’s function within the Jan. 6 assault.
“Donald Trump was incorrect,” Pence mentioned. “I had no proper to overturn the election. And his reckless phrases endangered my household and everybody on the Capitol that day, and I do know historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable.”
He continued: “The American individuals have a proper to know what passed off on the Capitol on January sixth. However make no mistake about it, what occurred that day was a shame, and it mocks decency to painting it in every other means.”
