‘It didn’t end well’: New Pence book details split with Trump

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NEW YORK — Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence accuses Donald Trump of endangering his family and “everyone who works in the Capitol” on Jan. 6 in a new memoir released Tuesday Did.

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In “So Help Me God,” Pence speaks in his own words for the first time about the tremendous effort the former Republican president backed him to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, accusing thousands of people of shares his account of the day the mob stormed the Capitol. , while chanting “Hang Mike Pence.”

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“They came to protest the outcome of the election and to prevent Congress from fulfilling its responsibility to initiate and count the electoral college votes,” Pence wrote. “And I found out later that many people were looking for me.”

The book traces Pence’s life in politics — from his role as youth coordinator for the local Democratic Party to days after Pence was sworn in as a member of Congress by then-Vice President Al Gore proving his election defeat. Till I See You Do – has heavily defended Trump and painted over and whitewashed many of his most controversial episodes. “I have always been loyal to President Donald Trump,” the book begins.

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But Pence, who has refused to publicly criticize his boss for years, said Jan. 6, 2021 was the day Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family and everyone who works in the Capitol.” It reveals that it was the limit point of “exposed”.

“For four years we have had a close working relationship. It didn’t end well,” Pence wrote summing up his time at the White House. Yet he adds: In the months that followed, we spoke occasionally, but when the President returned to the rhetoric he used before that tragic day and began publicly criticizing us for defending the Constitution, I decided it was best to go our separate ways.

Published by Simon & Schuster, the book goes directly to Trump, who will officially begin his re-election campaign in Florida on Tuesday night, as Pence looks increasingly likely to run for president in 2024. It becomes a conflicting move.

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Pence, who doesn’t directly say in the book that Democrat Joe Biden won fairly, said Trump would hold a rally in Washington on Jan. 6, when Pence would preside over the certification of the election. He writes that when he first proposed it, he thought it was a good thing. idea. “My first thought was that that day’s rally might serve as a way to call more attention to the proceedings of the House and Senate,” he wrote.

Instead, Pence sat on the Senate floor to inform him that a senator leaned over and a mob had broken into the building, and members of his Secret Service detail rushed to insist they leave. Pence refused to be evicted from the building and was instead ushered to the Senate’s loading dock, where he spent hours surrounded by staff and family, and, as president, called on the military to coordinate the government’s response. and phoned congressional leaders. I stayed in my room and watched TV to check on Pence’s safety.

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“There was slurred movement and chaos all around. Security and police were directing people to safety, staff were screaming and running for shelter. I could see the strength, I could hear the voices of the Capitol, I could hear the footsteps and the angry chants,” Pence wrote. Still, Mr. Pence insisted he was “not afraid,” he was only angry at what was unfolding.

At 2:24 p.m., as Pence remained hidden, Trump issued the infamous tweet that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what he had to do to defend his country and the Constitution.”

“I just shook my head,” Pence said. I was looting….The president decided to be part of the problem.I decided to be part of the solution.I ignored the tweet and went back to work.”

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Pence also rejected the results of the election by denying the Electoral College votes or sending them back to the states, even though the Constitution makes it clear that the Vice President’s role is purely ceremonial. It describes Trump’s campaign to pressure him to do so.

At a luncheon on Nov. 16, 2020, Pence said he told Trump: He made a political comeback by winning the Georgia Senate runoff, the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, and the 2022 House and Senate. “

“It has been achieved, I said, and he could run for president in 2024 and win,” Pence wrote. It looked like

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Pence wrote that Trump told him “before returning to the state of the election agenda in various states.”

At another luncheon, Pence encouraged President Trump, saying, “Don’t look at the election as a ‘losing’. It’s just a break.” said Trump should “bow down” and will do it again later.

“He nodded, pointed at me like ‘that’s worth considering,’ and walked into the back hallway,” Pence wrote. “I always wish he was there.”

But as lawsuits pushed by Trump’s legal team continued to fail, Pence wrote that Trump became gloomy and increasingly angry. Pence said Trump was “too honest,” and predicted that “hundreds of thousands of people would hate your guts,” and “people would think you were stupid.” is said to have hit

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“As the days went by, it became clear that when I presided over the certification of the 2020 election, it would cost me real politically,” Pence wrote. I always knew I didn’t have the authority, I knew my friend would be hurt by my participation in the certification, but my duty was clear.”

After the mob was cleared from the Capitol, Congress resumed and Pence presided over a proof of defeat for him and Trump. For several days, the two did not speak. However, when they finally met five days later, Pence said they spent over 90 minutes together.

Pence told Trump, “I told him I’ve been praying for him for the past four and a half years and encouraged him to pray.” I said, “Call him.”He said nothing. “

“The president, with genuine sadness in his voice, thought, ‘What if there were no rallies? What if they hadn’t been to the Capitol?'” said.