In perhaps one of the most damning accounts from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building, then-president Donald Trump reportedly agreed with protestors chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” The conservation, which reportedly occurred between Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, was shared with the House Select Committee that’s been investigating the events leading up to and during the Capitol insurrection.
In addition to commenting that maybe hanging Pence wasn’t a bad idea, Trump also allegedly complained that the vice president was being evacuated from the Capitol building as protestors stormed the building holding ropes and erected a makeshift gallows outside. Via The New York Times:
Mr. Meadows, according to an account provided to the House committee investigating Jan. 6, then told the colleagues that Mr. Trump had said something to the effect of, maybe Mr. Pence should be hung.
It is not clear what tone Mr. Trump was said to have used. But the reported remark was further evidence of how extreme the rupture between the president and his vice president had become, and of how Mr. Trump not only failed to take action to call off the rioters but appeared to identify with their sentiments about Mr. Pence — whom he had unsuccessfully pressured to block certification of the Electoral College results that day — as a reflection of his own frustration at being unable to reverse his loss.
While there’s been no lack of evidence that the relationship between Trump and Pence has been frosty, if not downright hostile, the situation recently heated up in intensity when Pence didn’t rule out running against Trump in 2024.
“We’ll go where we’re called,” he told the Times in a prior interview. “That’s the way Karen and I have always approached these things.”
Trump has already made it clear that he will choose a new running mate should he win the Republican nomination in 2024. It appears Pence won’t be taking that insult lying down (unless Mother says otherwise).
(Via New York Times)