Donald Trump Says Mike Pence Is To Blame For January 6 Insurrection
"In many ways, you can blame him for Jan. 6," Trump told reporters on Monday, March 13, according to The Washington Post. He was aboard his private plane to a campaign event in Iowa when he responded to questions about his former Vice President. Pence considered the demand that he overturns the 2020 election results improper and illegal.
The Republican former governor of Indiana also spoke critically of Trump during a weekend dinner of senior Washington journalists and dignitaries, saying that Trump was "wrong." Pence said at the annual Gridiron dinner, "I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable."
As part of his job as vice president, Pence handled the ceremonial counting of the electoral votes that certified Joe Biden's election victory on January 6, 2021. Trump demanded that Pence throw out the electoral votes from certain states that Biden won, claiming election fraud. Pence said that he lacked the legal authority to dismiss those electoral votes. Trump applied similar pressure to other state officials, specifically in Georgia which is why Trump is now being investigated by a grand jury in Atlanta.
Not only is Trump being investigated in Georgia (and in New York for paying off Stormy Daniels), but Trump's demands, and the January 6 insurrection, are subjects of a Justice Department special counsel investigation that involved the ex-president and Pence. The special counsel has since subpoenaed Pence to testify about the insurrection. Attorneys for both Pence and Trump are trying to suppress the subpoena. They are claiming that prosecutors are not allowed to hear private conversations between a president and a vice president.
Responding to Pence's statements in the Gridiron speech, Trump told reporters, "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 for Jan. 6."
He added, "Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, No. 1, you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had 'Jan. 6' as we call it."
Pence, however, said that that never would have happened. He also claims that Trump's public comments on the 2020 election inspired and endorsed the breach of the U.S. Capitol and put people in danger—including him and his family. "Make no mistake about it: What happened that day was a disgrace," Pence said in his Gridiron speech. "And it mocks decency to portray it any other way."