Vice President Mike Pence on Friday resoundingly rejected a declare by former President Trump that he had the flexibility to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying that there is little that's extra un-American than the notion that any president can select the nation's chief.
"There are these in our social gathering who consider that because the presiding officer of the joint session of Congress that I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral Faculty Votes. And I heard this week that President Trump stated I had the fitting to overturn the election. President Trump is incorrect," Pence stated throughout a speech in Florida to the Federalist Society. "I had no proper to overturn the election."
"The presidency belongs to the American folks and the American folks alone," Pence continued. "And albeit, there isn't a concept extra un-American than the notion that anyone American may select the American president. Underneath the Structure, I had no proper to vary the result of our election."
Earlier this week, Trump made the false declare that Pence "did have the the fitting to vary the result."
Pence's contradiction of his former boss didn't go unnoticed by Trump, who stated in a Friday evening assertion that it "would have been applicable" for Pence to ship votes again to the legislatures if there was "fraud or giant scale irregularities."
Pence additionally known as January, 2021, a "darkish day" within the nation's historical past.
"January 6 was a darkish day within the historical past of america Capitol. Lives had been misplaced," Pence stated. "And lots of had been injured. Because of the brave motion of the Capitol Hill Police and federal regulation enforcement the violence was quelled. The capitol was secured. And we reconvened the Congress that exact same day to complete our work below the Structure of america and the legal guidelines of this nation."
The previous vice chairman's remarks come at his personal potential political peril, in a celebration that also embraces the previous president — and that largely nonetheless believes President Biden didn't win the election.
In the meantime, the Nationwide Archives and Information Administration will launch Pence's data to the Home panel investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, regardless of efforts by Trump to protect their launch. The Archives intend to ship the data to the committee March 3.
Pence's former chief of employees Marc Quick met this week with the Home choose committee investigating the January 6 assault. Quick was with Pence within the Capitol on January 6 when pro-Trump rioters overtook the constructing and the pair had been pressured to evacuate to a secure location throughout the Capitol complicated.