Former Vice President Michael Pence said on Friday that his former boss, the former President Donald Trumpis “wrong” to claim that he may have overturned the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
“President Trump is wrong. I have no power to overturn the election,” he said in a speech to a meeting of the Federalists, a conservative legal group. “There are people in our party who believe, as chairperson of a joint session of Congress, that I have the right to unilaterally refuse Electoral College votes.”
“The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people,” he added. “And frankly, there is no more un-American idea than the notion that anyone can choose the president of the United States.”
Pence’s remarks represent the harshest language to date by the former vice president against Trump, who has repeatedly falsely claimed President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. comes just days after Trump criticized him for failing to overturn the results of the 2020 election as Congress counted the votes cast by states.
A person close to Pence told NBC News later on Friday that his harsh tone against his former boss was the result of “seeing Trump dig deeper and pursue him more personally. “
Pence may also feel “obligated” to speak up, and that “even if the party is pretending that voting rejection is ‘normal’ and ‘OK’, that’s wrong and not the right way to go.” politically to enter the presidential cycle,” the person said, according to NBC.
Meanwhile, a Trump aide accused Pence of being “unreliable,” telling NBC that the former president “did not ask him to overturn” the election, but merely sent out electoral votes. back to the states.
“I think it’s clear who really has Republican voters behind him,” the aide told NBC. “Pence is trying to stay relevant. As far as voters are concerned, they’re not going to buy what Pence is selling.”
Trump claimed in a statement released Sunday that the ongoing congressional effort to pass legislation that explicitly prohibits the vice president from reversing the results of the presidential election is proof that Pence once had the power. do like that.
“What they’re saying, is Mike Pence had the power to change the outcome and now they want to do it immediately,” Trump added earlier in the week.
The two men are both considered potential candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination and could face each other in a future primary.
Pence on Friday described the events of January 6, 2021 as “a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol,” when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the building and halted the transition of power. force for Biden.
Before the riots, Trump pressured Pence to “do the right thing” and send electoral votes “back to the states to reconfirm,” claiming that if Pence “does the right thing, we will won the election.” Pence declined to dismiss the Electoral College votes, saying in a letter that he believes he has no power.
While storming the Capitol, pro-Trump rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as others wore nooses outside the building. Trump later defended those rioters, saying, “It’s common sense you have to defend. How can you – if you know a vote is rigged, right? – do it? Can you pass a rigged vote to Congress?”
Trump’s pressure on Pence to overturn the election has led senators from both parties to consider changes to the Voter Count Act of 1887, which sets out guidelines for settling disputes. approve the presidential election and confirm the results.
Lawmakers aim to make it harder to challenge future outcomes.
“To me, President Trump’s comments underscore our need to amend the Voter Count Act because they have demonstrated confusion in the law and the fact that it’s ambiguous,” said Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican in Maine and one of the lawmakers working on the effort, said Monday after Trump’s announcement.
– CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger and Jacob Pramuk contributed reporting.
