On CNN’s “State of the Union” this week, former vice president and potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee Mike Pence said that former President Trump and his attorneys encouraged him to “reject” the 2020 election.
Anchor “I’m certain that you heard attorneys for the former president claiming that he, quote, ultimately requested only that you pause from counting the electoral votes,” Dana Bash remarked. “Be clear, please. Did the previous president ever request a delay or a request to overturn the results and keep him in office?”
“You may review the president’s tweets as well as public remarks up to the night prior to and on the morning of the event,” Pence added. “Even though not one vice president throughout American history had ever claimed such a right, the president was of the opinion that I had the authority to reject or simply return electoral votes in December. The right to elect the American president has never been held by a vice president or a single president. The entire American people are the rightful owners of the president.”
“But look, the president had been talking about us declining votes in the days prior, then later in the proceedings, his attorneys suggested that we should return votes over to the states, but actually, the day prior to January 6th, if memory is correct, they came back and stated, we want you to reject the votes outright,” he continued. “They pleaded with me to overturn the result of the election. I lacked the authority to void the election. I am confident that we carried out our job that day, and I am heartened by the number of individuals who approach me to thank us for our position, whether they are from New Hampshire, Iowa, or anywhere else in the nation.”
