Trump Explains What He Would Have Done on Jan. 6 if He Were Mike Pence
In a recent interview with Raheem Kassam of The National Pulse, former President Donald Trump addressed many of the issues on everyone’s mind, including the border, his contentious relationship with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, abortion, President Joe Biden, his many indictments and plenty more. It’s a great interview you should definitely watch.
What stuck out to me, among everything discussed, was the series of events that unfolded around the day Vice President Mike Pence refused to send the electoral votes back to the legislatures on Jan. 6, 2021. Many of us have always wondered what happened behind closed doors that day.
Trump’s explanation was both kind and clarifying. It also spelled out why he believes former Vice President Mike Pence is polling so low among conservative voters. I think he is right on target.
What Trump described was an unwillingness by Pence to be a leader at a critical time when the fate of our nation depended upon it.
As Trump explained, Pence could have easily clarified a very gray legal issue simply by sending the electoral college votes back to the state legislatures to review and confirm.
“He had to be a human conveyor belt. Those votes have to go right in to Mitch McConnell, who, by the way, is very bad for the Republican party. He’s almost like a Democrat vote. He gives them whatever they want. I don’t know what’s wrong with this guy. There’s something wrong.”
LIVE NOW to watch via @X: @TheNatPulse interview with @realDonaldTrump in full. pic.twitter.com/RFbLaDCi96
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) September 27, 2023
“But even if they confirmed it and sent it back, Mike Pence would have been popular. But he wouldn’t do it.”
Maybe Pence might be “more” popular, anyway. His stiffness makes him tough to actually like or even want to get to know. He feels “packaged” — unlike the other Republican candidates, who show emotion beyond “on” and “off,” with occasional “annoyance” woven between.
To that same end, although he continues to push that he is a “principled” man, that was actually exactly what caused Pence to fall short when the moment arose, requiring him to stand up and defend the constitutional republic. He couldn’t do it, even with Trump urging him, providing a logical, methodical way to move forward.
Trump’s own words, “Well, you should … it would be really good for the country. And I think you could have said, ‘there’s is a lot of dispute, there’s a lot of anger. I’m going to take one week, send it back to five or six legislatures, and at the end of the week, they have to give us their answer, their response. It’s a one-week thing. The Democrats would have complained, but nobody could have really been that upset with it. We are not taking the votes. We are just sending them back to legislatures. And he didn’t want to do that.”
Pence played right into the Democrats’ hands. On principle, he should have kept the ball rolling and returned those electoral votes back to the state legislatures to confirm. But he dropped the ball.
Why would conservatives or anyone allow him to pick it up again in an even more pivotal role as president of the United States? Especially after the faulty judgment he used, which gave the Democrats and their friends the required time to formally change the law following Jan.6.
Concerned how gray that gray area remained, and what that could mean down the line for the Democratic takeover of the presidency, now or in the future, the Democrats made sure that this question was never brought up again. Thus, they permanently and legally removed the vice president’s authority to protect our future elections in the manner Pence faced.
In Trump’s own words, “He had the right to do it. You know why? Because right after the election was over, they changed the law so that the vice president can’t do what I said he could do. Very deceptive. Very terrible.”
Pence set a precedent, and the Democrats made sure that nothing could be done about it, or that it could even be questioned. In other words, Pence helped the Democrats drive this nation into the ground, and he didn’t even put up a good fight. Then he turned his back in a grotesque manner on the one person who continues to fight for our nation against all odds, despite everything and the kitchen sink that keeps being thrown at him to stop him: Trump.
He’s unforgivable, with no redeeming qualities or ability. Pence is the one candidate completely out of touch with the sentiments in the room. In my opinion, he should save his money and drop out of the race. He isn’t a contender.
Pence showed himself to be more “lackey” than “leader” at a moment that demanded loyalty to Trump, the voting process and the voters. It’s a moment that remains frozen in time. That is what has killed his chances of ever being taken seriously in the Republican primary.
Many conservatives can’t even look at him when he is standing next to the other Republican candidates. His poll numbers reflect this. “I see a poll that just came out. He’s at two percent. It’s sad,” Trump said. Kassam replied, “That’s within the margin of error, by the way.”
Pence’s campaign is in decline, according to FiveThirtyEight. His popularity has fallen to four percent. “I would have done the exact opposite,” Trump told Kassam.
Trump is right when he says Pence should have followed his advice. He’d be doing better, although still probably not good enough to clear the field. And, of course, there’s Trump’s polling at 54 percent.
All I can say is that Pence is fooling himself if he thinks he will bounce back today or any other day. He’s tainted, and there are better options running, although it seems Trump won Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate, because he was more in the room than any other candidate.
He has the other candidates working for him, and they don’t even realize it. That’s what makes him Trump — and so well loved.
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