Pence pans Trump attorneys for giving ‘wrong’ advice on Jan. 6, teases 2024 decision
Ryan King
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Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized former President Donald Trump‘s lawyers for giving Trump the “wrong” advice in the run-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump has repeatedly bashed Pence for not moving to decertify the 2020 election, something Pence was adamant he lacked the authority to do. When pressed about Trump’s recent assertion that Pence is to blame “in many ways” for the Jan. 6 chaos, the former vice president noted that at least one of Trump’s lawyers appeared to echo that sentiment.
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“I know one of the attorneys that was advising the President said the same thing in a text on January the sixth but his attorneys were wrong,” Pence told Johnathan Karl in an interview for ABC’s This Week.
Trump rebuked Pence last week in response to Pence stepping up his criticism against Trump for the Capitol riot as he weighs a 2024 primary run.
“Had he 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,” Trump told reporters last week. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe … you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6,’ as we call it.”
Pence countered that “President Trump is wrong” and emphasized, “by God’s grace, we did our duty that day” and adhered to the “express language of the Constitution.” He also revealed that Trump’s fiery rhetoric, such as blaming him for Jan. 6, led to the pair parting ways.
“The President and I actually parted amicably when we left the White House on Jan. 20 and spoke several times in the weeks that followed that. After I saw him return to that type of rhetoric in the spring of 2021, we’ve just gone our separate ways,” Pence added.
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Pence has announced trips to Iowa and New Hampshire over recent weeks as he continues to mull a primary run. He noted that he has received “a lot of encouragement” to jump into the 2024 arena and teased that a decision is drawing near.
“I can tell you we’re getting closer. I’ve been spending time with our family, been listening to friends around the country. And I expect before too long we’ll — we’ll know what our calling is,” Pence said. “It’s all about what we feel called to do.”