Former Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday defended his role in certifying the results of the 2020 election, saying he was “proud” of what he did on Jan. 6 and declaring that there is “almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”
Pence, a potential 2024 presidential contender, delivered his strongest rebuttal to date of former President Donald Trump’s continued insistence that he could unilaterally overturn the results of the last election, even though the Constitution granted him no such power. A mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a bid to halt the certification process and transition of power, with some chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence, in remarks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, directly addressed those who continue to blame him for Trump’s defeat to now-President Joe Biden who won the Electoral College on a 306-232 vote.
“Now there are those in our party who believe that, in my position as presiding officer over the joint session, that I possessed the authority to reject or return electoral votes certified by the states,” he said.
