Trump hits Pence for standing by his decision to certify 2020 election: He's 'gone to the Dark Side'
Former President Trump slammed his former running mate on Saturday for going “to the Dark Side” as former Vice President Mike Pence has continued to stand by his decision to certify the 2020 election in the wake of Trump’s most recent indictment.
“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest,’” the former president added. “He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy.”
Trump was indicted on four counts on Tuesday over his efforts to cling to power after the 2020 election. The indictment detailed the former president’s repeated attempts to convince Pence to send back or reject electoral votes during Congress’ certification of the election on Jan. 6, 2021.
During a call on Jan. 1, 2021, Pence reportedly told Trump that he did not believe there was a “constitutional basis” for him to reject the results of the election and that it was “improper,” to which the former president allegedly said that Pence was “too honest,” according to the indictment.
The former vice president said on Tuesday that the indictment served as an “important reminder” that “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”
“Our country is more important than one man,” he added in a statement. “Our constitution is more important than any one man’s career. On January 6th, Former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution and I always will.”
Pence has also reiterated in recent days that he did not have the authority to reject the results of the election on Jan. 6.
“You know, I’m a student of American history, and the first time I heard in early December somebody suggest that as vice president I might be able to decide which votes to reject and which to accept, I knew that it was false … I dismissed it out of hand,” Pence said on Wednesday.
“Sadly, the president was surrounded by a group of crackpot lawyers that kept telling him what his itching ears wanted to hear,” he added.