Former President Donald Trump and former US Vice President Mike Pence in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 2, 2020, in Washington, DC.
MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Mike Pence recounted the first time he spoke to Donald Trump after the Capitol riot on PBS Newshour.
Pence reportedly told Trump he was “angry” about the pair’s differences and the actions of the rioters.
Pence said he later decided it was best they went their “separate ways.”
Former Vice-President Mike Pence said he told former President Donald Trump that he was angry the first time they spoke after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Pence and his family hid in the Capitol building while it was stormed by a mob of Trump supporters, some calling for Pence to be hanged after he refused to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
The former vice president told PBS Newshour that Trump asked to speak with him in the Oval Office five days after the “tragic events” of the riot.
Pence said that Trump expressed concern for Pence’s wife and daughter, and he answered him “sternly” that they were all fine.
He said then Trump asked him if he was afraid, and he responded: “No Mr. President, I was angry.”
Pence said that he was angry about the former president and his “differences,” as well as being “infuriated” by what he saw that day, including “people ransacking the Capitol and breaking glass and assaulting law enforcement officers.”
When PBS Newshour anchor Judy Woodruff later asked Pence whether he felt anger towards Trump as the riot unfolded, he responded: “Well, yes.”
Woodruff also asked Pence whether Trump apologized to him during that meeting. Pence said he did not but sensed “remorse” and “regret” from the former president.
Although Pence said the meeting ended amicably, he later decided to distance himself from Trump.
“When he returned in the months later to the rhetoric he was using before January 6, arguing that I had the right to overturn the election, I just decided it’d be best we went our separate ways, and we have,” Pence said.
During the interview, Pence said that he supported any legal challenges to the election results but said that it was not stolen — something Trump continues to baselessly assert.
Since Trump and Pence left office, the two have appeared to have a strained relationship. Pence has been critical of the former president’s actions leading up to and following the riot.
Trump has also criticized his former vice president, reportedly saying he would not pick him as running mate again because he refused to intervene in the election certification process.
Pence is considering running for president himself in 2024, according to PBS. Trump is the only Republican candidate to declare that they are running so far.
Pence was speaking to PBS to promote his new autobiography “So Help Me God.”