'He decided to be part of the problem': Mike Pence calls Donald Trump's January 6th actions 'reckless'
Former Vice President Mike Pence in an exclusive interview with ABC news anchor David Muir on Sunday's edition of World News Tonightcondemned the incendiary rhetoric through which he was personally targeted by then-President Donald Trump during the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
Pence refused to go along with Trump's scheme to reject President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory in the 2020 election because he determined that he had no constitutional authority to do so. Trump, who was desperate to hold onto power, reacted with a Twitter post that essentially labeled Pence as a coward.
Speaking with Pence inside his Indiana residence, Muir recalled that "members were barricaded inside the House chamber, and in the middle of it all, you can see that the president has tweeted. 2:24 p.m., the president tweets: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done.'"
Pence's response suggested that Trump's desperate actions are still weighing heavily on him.
After a heavy silence, Pence said, "it angered me. But I turned to my daughter who was standing nearby and I said, 'it doesn't take courage to break the law. It takes courage to uphold the law. I mean, the president's words were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem."
By the time Trump published his tweet, the armed mob of angry Trump supporters had barged into the Capitol complex, with many of them chanting "hang Mike Pence" and calling for the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California). That led to the evacuation of lawmakers from the floors of the House of Representatives, where the counting of electors was already underway, as well as the Senate, where Pence was presiding over the body and moved to a secure location.
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