The man shows backbone. “President Trump is wrong,” Mike Pence said Friday night about the former president’s coup attempts. “I had no right to overturn the election.”
It is the first time that Trump’s vice president has made such a clear public statement about the events of January 6, 2021. Previously, the staunchly conservative politician had served the president loyally for four years. Until Trump asked him to thwart the vote count in the US Congress. Trump put his vice president under tremendous pressure for days by bombarding him with memos and calling on him in meetings, on the phone and publicly via Twitter to overturn the election.
They chanted “Hang Mike Pence”
Trump’s attempts culminated in sending thousands of his supporters to the Capitol on January 6th. Hundreds overran the police and rushed into the building where Pence was supposed to be presiding over the confirmation of the election result. “Hang Mike Pence,” chanted the mob, the vice president had to call off the meeting and run to safety until police forces finally cleared the building hours later.
Since then, Pence had gone diving. Although his people answered questions from the parliamentary committee investigating the events of January 6, Pence himself remained taciturn and merely commented that he and Trump would probably never agree on this point again.
Now Pence has calmly but definitely broken with Trump by reprimanding him by name. “I heard President Trump say this week that I have the right to overturn the election,” said the 62-year-old. “President Trump is wrong.” The presidency belongs solely to the American people, Pence said. “There is no more un-American idea than the notion that any individual can choose the American president.”
January 6 was a “dark day,” Pence said. He called on Trump and the party to finally acknowledge the election result and turn to other issues. “Whatever the future holds for us, I know we did our duty that day,” said Pence. “Now is the time to look ahead.” Just as he was unable to overturn Joe Biden’s election, his Vice President Kamala Harris does not have the power to prevent the Republicans from defeating the Democrats again in the next presidential election.
Christian first, Republican last
Pence has chosen the end of a special week to publicly break with Trump – and a special audience. He used a speech to a meeting of the Federalist Society in Florida, a hard-line conservative group dedicated to the literal interpretation of the US Constitution. It became quiet in the room when Pence started his complaint, US media reported. Some listeners would have left the hall, but polite applause can also be heard a few times on video transmissions.
Pence is said to have ambitions to run for the presidency in 2024. However, the veteran MP and former governor of Iowa is likely to have finally fallen out not only with Trump but also with the Republican Party on Friday evening. Apparently his conscience leaves him with no choice but to describe himself as “Christian, Conservative and Republican – in that order”.
Just hours before Pence’s speech, Republican leaders had made several memorable resolutions declaring the storming of the Capitol as legitimate political expression. In a resolution, the party condemned MPs Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the January 6 House Committee and immediately withdrew their support. The resolution said the two engaged in the “prosecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
The judiciary only targeted those demonstrators who had actually penetrated all police barriers into the parliament building or had committed crimes outside, such as the 140 registered acts of violence against police officers. Only those who have committed crimes face high penalties. However, around half of the more than 750 accused so far have only been charged with minor offenses, which usually result in conditional sentences.
Republicans line up behind Trump
Republican leaders rushed to reassure Friday night that the party’s decision was not intended to defend violent protesters. But the language of the document breathes a completely different spirit – that of Donald Trump, who still keeps the party firmly enough in his grip.
On and immediately after January 6, numerous Republicans had been extremely critical of Trump. However, as the months went by, they began to downplay the storming of the Capitol, only to describe it now, a year later, as a “legitimate” protest. Pence’s rebuke is unlikely to change anything because the Republican supporters don’t even take notice of it: While Pence’s clear words could be read and heard on the front page of most American news portals, Fox News, the Republican’s home broadcaster, also published them walked.