In a stunning rebuke, former Vice President Mike Pence called out Donald Trump, saying his former boss was 'wrong' in claiming Pence had the right to overturn the election results on January 6.
Mike Pence spoke out on Donald Trump’s ongoing claim that Pence had the right to overturn the election results on January 6, 2021. During the Federalist Society Florida Chapters conference in Orlando, Florida on Friday (February 4), the former Vice President delivered a stunning rebuke to Trump’s ongoing efforts to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, calling the idea that one person is able to appoint the U.S. commander in chief “un-American.”
“President Trump is wrong,” Pence said during his speech. “I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election.”
Pence’s remarkable words come in response to comments made by Trump earlier in the week, when the former reality star once again falsely claimed he could have been named president if Pence had not backed down. In a statement made on Sunday (January 30), Trump suggested a recent effort by some Republican Senators to revise the Electoral College vote count proved Pence had every right to change the election’s outcome. “Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Trump wrote.
Two days later, Trump issued another statement, suggesting the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection should look into “why Mike Pence did not send back the votes for recertification or approval.”
During his Friday speech, Pence also warned against GOP members following in Trump’s footsteps by calling the election stolen and claiming a vice-president can change the outcome, as it would prove dire for Republicans in future run-offs. “Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election, and (Vice President) Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024,” Pence told the crowd.
