Pence needs to stop playing games.
Former U.S. vice president and Republican presidential candidate, Mike Pence, expressed his views on former President Donald Trump’s actions leading up to the Capitol attacks on January 6, 2021. In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” Pence stated that while he believed Trump’s words were reckless, he was not yet convinced that they amounted to criminal behavior.
According to Newsmax, recently Trump revealed that he had received a letter indicating that he was a target of a grand jury investigation related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. This development signals the possibility of federal criminal charges against Trump, who is also a leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Pence shared his hope that it would not come to that, referring to a potential indictment of Trump. He believes that such matters should be left to the judgment of the American public to determine whether Trump should be held responsible for his actions. Pence acknowledged that Trump’s actions were indeed reckless, but he admitted that he was uncertain about the former president’s intentions on January 6, 2021.
Prior to the Capitol attacks, Trump had repeatedly criticized Pence for refusing to intervene in the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Some of the rioters even chanted threatening slogans against Pence during the unrest.
In light of these events, Pence clarified that Trump was mistaken in thinking that the vice president had the authority to overturn the election outcome. Despite the challenges he faced that day, Pence emphasized that he believes he fulfilled his duty as required.
On a separate note, Trump himself is facing indictment on charges related to unlawfully retaining national security documents upon leaving office and allegedly providing false information to officials seeking their return. He has pleaded not guilty to these charges.