Mike Pence was a loyal enabler of Trump throughout his presidency. He supported the hateful, racist rhetoric, acts of obstruction of justice, conspiracy theories, and violations of the Constitution. He stood like a robot and grinned and clapped while Trump politicized the military, hid his taxes, profitted financially off the presidency, hired cronies, fired qualified patriots and pardoned criminals. Pence himself may have violated his oath of office by participating in some of Trump’s schemes. It is documented that Pence asked multiple people if there was any legal way he could meet Trump’s request to refuse to certify the vote of the American people. He is an experienced politician and knew that what Trump was asking him to do was wrong. However, he was willing to do it if he could find a way. When he asked former Vice President Dan Quayle if he could meet Trump’s request of blocking Biden’s ascent to power, Quayle said, “Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away.”
Pence is being urged by the press to continue his honesty related to what he knows about Trump’s behaviors leading up to the insurrection. It’s great that he became tired of listening to Trump get away with lying to the base by telling them he could of overturned the election and chose not to do it. However, to show he is now acting out patriotism not opportunism, he should tell the Jan. 6th Committee about how Trump pressured him not to certify the electoral vote. He should answer any question the Committee wants to ask him about what knowledge Trump had about the planning of the attack on the Capitol such as;
- Who else in the government was involved in the planning and financing of the Capitol attack?
- Did Trump incite the mob to physically try to stop the peaceful transfer of power once he realized you were not going to overturn the election?
- What was Trump doing and saying leading up to the day of the certification of the election?
- Were you aware the mob was yelling to hang you?
- Did you have communication with Trump during the Capitol attack?
- Were you in contact with anyone else in the White House during the attack on the Capitol?
- Could you identify members of Congress and others who met with Trump on the days leading up to Jan. 6th?
- Were you present at any of those meetings?
- Do you believe there is any truth to Trump’s claim that the vote was fraudulent?
If Pence wants to recover his dignity and credibility and to disassociate from Trump and Trumpism, he will have to do more than clarify the Constitution does not give the Vice President the power to overturn the electoral vote in a presidential election.
