Mike Pence angered Trump by admitting he did not have the power to reject the 2020 US election results
US Vice President Mike Pence, who has come under pressure from Donald Trump and his allies, has voiced that a vice president cannot claim "unilateral authority" to reject state electoral votes. Pence admitted on Wednesday (6/1/2021) that he does not have the power to overturn the results of the 2020 US election which will make Joe Biden of the Democratic Party the next president. ).
His remarks shattered Trump's unfounded hopes that Pence could somehow find a way to keep them in office. "It is my judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution restricts me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," Pence wrote in a letter to members of Congress before he was there.
In an extraordinary moment that underscores the dramatic split between Trump and his most loyal deputy, Pence released a statement just after he arrived at the Capitol to count the electoral votes. Even as the president told the thousands of supporters gathered near the White House that Pence could reverse that result.
"If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election," Trump told supporters, who then marched through Washington and stormed the Capitol. Trump tweeted his disapproval of Pence upon his return to the White House. "Mike Pence does not have the courage to do what is supposed to be done to protect our State and our Constitution," wrote the 45th US president.
"Provides an opportunity for States to certify a set of corrected facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones previously requested to be certified," he wrote. "The US demands the truth!" said Trump. After defeat after defeat in court to the 2020 US election results suit and with no further options, Trump and his allies have spent days in a futile attempt to convince Pence he has the power to reject the outcome of the battlefield nations that voted for Biden.
The Constitution makes it clear that the role of the vice president in a joint session is largely ceremonial, like the presenter. Meanwhile, Pence's allies have made it clear he intends to oppose Trump. The vice president's public statement is deemed to remain a very unexpected thing, because he, who has spent the last 4 years defending the president and carefully avoided his anger.
An enraged Trump risks jeopardizing Pence's carefully planned political future. Pence is eyeing a run for the White House in 2024 and has been counting on his years of allegiance to Trump to help him stand out in a place he is expected to attract. Even outside of office, Trump is expected to remain the de facto Republican leader and political king for years to come.
Trump spent much of Wednesday (6/1/2021) in anger over Pence's actions, even as violent protesters swarmed the US Capitol, forcing lawmakers to go into hiding and halting trials. Even as the US demonstrations at the Capitol took place, most of Trump's attention was on Pence, according to a White House official who spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. Pence was escorted out of the Senate room to a safe location when protesters broke through the building.
The vice president spoke with the acting defense minister to discuss mobilizing the Washington National Guard on Wednesday afternoon. Pence explained in his three-page letter that he would follow the Constitution, not the country's supreme commander, no matter the political implications. He stressed that a vice president does not have unilateral powers under the Constitution and congressional rules governing the counting of the Electoral College.
The regulation states that members of the DPR and Senate have the full right to voice their objections and assess their appropriateness. So, as Trump's campaign continued in bitter cold, Pence began unlocking electoral vote certificates from each state, then handing them over to "tellers" appointed from the House and Senate in alphabetical order. The process was immediately postponed as protesters walked into the Capitol, overwhelming the police and forcing the evacuation of the vice president and members of Congress.
"The violence and destruction that occurred in the US Capitol Must Stop and Must Stop Now," Pence tweeted later. "Whoever is involved must respect Law Enforcement officers and leave the building immediately," he said. When the count was finally over, Pence would then have the task of announcing the winner of the election contest and formalizing his own defeat.
Despite claims by Trump and his allies, there was no widespread fraud in the election. This has been confirmed by a number of election officials and by William Barr, who stepped down as attorney general in December. Neither Trump nor the lawmakers, who pledged to reject the tally of the 2020 US election results, have yet to provide credible evidence that will change the outcome.
