Former Vice President Mike Pence said he hopes Donald Trump will ‘accept’ the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and realize he doesn’t have the power to undo Joe Biden’s victory .
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Pence said he believed Trump would come to understand that he was “misled by the so-called legal experts who badly advised him on the role ‘he thought I had, and still thinks I had that day.
“I always hoped he would come back to this issue because I believe that no one who places himself above the Constitution should ever be President of the United States,” Pence said.
Trump pressured Pence to overturn Biden’s victory in the joint session of Congress to certify the result, which the then vice president chaired. This angered Trump, who called out Pence on Twitter for lacking the courage to push his agenda. Many Trump supporters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as they scoured the halls of the Capitol looking for him during the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising.
Still, Pence, who is seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, did not rule out pardoning Trump if he is found guilty of mishandling classified documents — and if Pence becomes president — but reiterated that the question is “premature”.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts.
“I don’t know why some of my competitors in the Republican primary assume the president will be found guilty,” he saidarguing that there are still many unknowns.
“At the end of the day, it saddens me that we are now in this moment,” Pence continued.
Pence struggled to define his position on Trump’s indictment. He told the Wall Street Journal he “cannot defend” Trump’s allegations, but previously warned the Justice Department not to pursue charges in the case.
During the “Meet the Press” interview, Pence also struggled to identify his voter base and how it differs from Trump’s.
An average of the latest national polls on Saturday shows Trump remaining the frontrunner in the race with 53.5%, while support for Pence stands at 5.6%, according to FiveThirtyEight.
The former vice president said people across the country thanked him for his service to the country, and in particular for his position on January 6.
Pence dodged a follow-up question from NBC’s Chuck Todd about how many of those people were Trump voters, saying, “I know the people in our movement, and I can honestly tell you they’re some of the best. people of this country. . They love America and they love our Constitution.
Pence also sought to criticize his former boss for his “ambiguous message” about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“I can’t even say who he would rather see win the war in Ukraine,” pence said. “I think the United States needs to support the brave fighters in Ukraine, give them the resources faster than Joe Biden, to lead the fight against the Russians and repel this invasion.”
Trump did not condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade his neighbor and claimed the conflict wouldn’t even have started had he been president.
“I could fix this war in Ukraine in 24 hours, but you can only do that from the presidential seat,” Fox News said in May.