During an interview with former Vice President Mike Pence on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins confronted Pence about not speaking out sooner before former President Donald Trump incited his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th.
Collins challenged Pence on why he didn’t publicly concede the election earlier and express his concerns before the situation escalated to the point where rioters targeted him, chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” She interrupted Pence’s response to challenge him on the facts and ask if he regretted not speaking up earlier.
Pence explained that he had hoped until the final days before January 6th that Trump would change his stance on the election results. He referenced previous instances where Trump had taken a strong position on an issue and then changed his viewpoint. Pence recalled a moment when Trump spoke in Georgia and initially expressed doubt about Pence’s actions but then stated that he believed Pence would do the right thing.
Pence admitted that he had hoped to persuade Trump to understand that he did not have the authority to change the election outcome and that the presidency belongs to the American people. However, those efforts were unsuccessful, and the situation deteriorated from there. Pence reiterated that he had always wanted the process to work in Congress and for objections to be heard, as Democrats had done in previous elections.
Collins persisted, asking why Pence didn’t come out and publicly concede the election in mid-December when it was clear that the Electoral College had certified Joe Biden’s win. Pence responded that he wanted to be respectful and emphasized the ongoing lawsuits at the time. He believed it was important to respect the process and fulfill his role as the presiding officer over Congress.
Pence expressed that he believed he fulfilled his duty that day and mentioned being moved by a woman who asked about the events during a town hall meeting. He appreciated her recognition of his faith and her willingness to consider voting for him despite their differences.
Throughout the interview, Collins pushed Pence on his actions leading up to the events of January 6th, questioning whether earlier public statements could have made a difference. Pence defended his decisions and emphasized his commitment to upholding the Constitution. He welcomed the opportunity to discuss his record and his understanding of duty while highlighting the accomplishments of the Trump/Pence administration.
COLLINS: Mr. Vice President, I understand that you’re saying it’s not something that gets brought up a lot by Republican primary voters.
But when you talk about your actions on that day, you’re often praised for the actions you took that day, standing up to the pressure you were facing to take actions that you say you could not take, that everyone says you wouldn’t — didn’t have the ability to do.
But do you ever wish that you had spoken up sooner, that you had come out and publicly conceded the election in the weeks before it got to the point that it got to, that you had said something before then?
PENCE: Well, honestly, Kaitlan, I had, frankly, hoped all the way up to the waning days before January 6 that President Trump would come around on this issue.
I’d seen it many times. You talk about times that we disagreed when I was vice president. I’d seen the president take a hard position on an issue who, and then take the opposite position, and then engage in a debate back and forth.
And I will never forget that Monday night, right before January 6, when he stood before a crowd in Georgia at a rally. And I had been in Georgia earlier in the day rallying folks for that special Senate election. And I remember he said: Mike Pence has got to come through for us, and if he doesn’t, I won’t like him so much.
And then he paused and said: No, no, one thing you know about Mike is, he’s always going to do the right thing.
And I remember, in that moment, Kaitlan, thinking, maybe he’s coming around and starting to see that the people that had told him that I had some authority, that the Constitution simply did not give me, nor should ever give to any one individual. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone.
But it was not to be. And, sadly, things went downhill from there. But I had hoped all along the way to persuade him of the rightness of our cause and our position. Let the process work in the Congress. Let the objections be heard.
You remember, Democrats brought objections to Electoral College votes in three of the last four elections that Republicans had prevailed. There’s nothing wrong with that process happening. But I’d always hoped that the president would come around and recognize that we did our duty that day.
COLLINS: But, obviously, that day — that day was much different.
But don’t you think it would have had an effect if you had come out in mid-December, when it was very clear the Electoral — the Electoral College had certified Biden’s win — if you had come out and publicly conceded the election? Why didn’t you do that?
PENCE: Well, I wanted to be respectful.
Remember, we had about 60 lawsuits that were working, some of which were still in the courts…
COLLINS: A lot of them were thrown out by then.
PENCE: … in the immediate days before January 6.
Well, yes, a lot of them were not too. It’s — the reality is, I wanted to respect the process. I wanted to make it clear that I was going to do my job as the presiding officer over the Congress, as my 47 predecessors had done, and as vice president, serving as president of the Senate.
I think we did our duty. By God’s grace, we did our duty that day. And I must tell you, I was very moved by that woman who asked me at the town hall meeting about it, that she later told someone on your network that she appreciated that I was a man of faith and said she’d consider voting for me nonetheless.
So I welcome the opportunity to talk about the record that we built under the Trump/Pence years. But I also welcome the opportunity to talk to people about what I understood to be my duty, and that, if I have the great privilege of being president of the United States, I will always keep my oath to the Constitution.
