On Monday, former President Trump suggested that former Vice President Mike Pence was responsible for the violence that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021. This statement comes two days after Pence claimed that Trump had acted inappropriately that day when the rioters marched to the Capitol.
While speaking with a group of reporters on his personal plane en route to a campaign event in Iowa, Trump was asked to respond to Pence’s claim that “history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
Trump stated that if Pence had “sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways, you can blame him for Jan. 6.” These comments were reported by the Washington Post. As Trump noted if Pence had chosen to send them “back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona,” then there would not have been a “Jan. 6.”
Pence has claimed that he constitutionally does not have the power to reject the electoral votes as Trump has claimed. He added that Trump is “wrong” in suggesting that the vice President is in a position to overturn the election results. He has further claimed that Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol.”
Courts have rejected Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election results needed to be nullified. Last December Congress also passed legislation that further clarified that the vice President did not have the right to overturn the presidential election results.
On Monday, Trump claimed that Pence’s comments came because of his wish to enter the GOP presidential primary.
