USA on the verge of a “revolution”?: Trump called Pence “wimp” during the Capitol storm

USA on the verge of a “revolution”?
Trump called Pence ‘wimp’ during Capitol storm

Former US President Trump’s plan to secure his power by having his vice president not recognize Biden’s election could have had serious consequences. There is talk of a “constitutional crisis”. When the Capitol is stormed, Trump supporters get very close to Pence, and Trump insults him.

In the investigative committee into the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, witnesses have revealed new details about the chaotic hours of that day. An adviser to then-US Vice President Mike Pence, Greg Jacob, described in a public hearing how Pence, despite the violence at Congress headquarters, refused to leave the premises against the advice of his security guards – so as not to provide a picture of how he was Vice President of the country “flees” from Congress. According to the committee’s findings, the rioters came dangerously close to Pence at the time. Several witnesses also reported a heated phone call between US President Donald Trump and his deputy just hours before the attack.

Trump supporters stormed the seat of parliament in Washington on January 6, 2021. Congress met there to formally confirm the election victory of Trump’s democratic challenger Joe Biden. The violent crowd wanted to prevent that. At that time, Pence chaired the congress session in his role as Vice President – legally a purely ceremonial task. Trump had previously openly called on his deputy to block the procedure – in order to help him win the election afterwards.

Shortly before the attack on the Capitol, Trump once again incited his supporters at a rally that his election victory had been stolen. The Republican also explicitly incited his supporters against Pence. At the time, they were looking for the vice president in the building, whom they called a traitor and threatened to hang because he did not prevent Biden’s confirmation. The committee is working on the outbreak of violence from back then.

Within twelve yards of Pence

According to the findings of the panel, the violent attackers came surprisingly close to Pence: when the Secret Service brought the vice president to safety, there were at times only about twelve meters between him and the rioters.

Jacob, who accompanied Pence at the time, said his boss was determined to complete the certification of the election result that had begun. He saw it as a “constitutional duty” to bring this to an end. Pence therefore stayed in a safe place on the Capitol grounds for hours and later returned to the Senate room from there. “There was no way the vice president wanted to risk the world seeing the vice president of the United States flee the US Capitol,” he said. When asked if at any point Trump called Pence to ask if he was safe, Jacob said, “He didn’t.” Pence was “frustrated”.

In video excerpts from pre-recorded interviews, several witnesses also described a highly tense phone call between Trump and Pence that morning, during which the then-President used multiple profanities. “The conversation was pretty heated,” said Trump’s daughter Ivanka. A Trump aide at the time, who was in the Oval Office with Ivanka Trump and others during the call with the President, said: “I heard the word ‘lusche’.” Another employee reported that Trump called his deputy a “wimp”.

Trump also tweeted during the attack, openly complaining that Pence had not acted on his behalf. A then White House Press Office official said, “I felt like he was adding fuel to the fire with that tweet.”

“Totally crazy”

To this day, Trump claims without evidence that he was deprived of victory in the 2020 presidential election through voter fraud. For weeks he tried to use the most questionable methods, including dozens of lawsuits, to subsequently overturn Biden’s election victory. Eventually, he saw Pence as his last chance to reverse the election outcome.

At the committee meeting, Jacob and other advisers to both Pence and Trump dismissed these attempts as absurd and illegitimate. Jacob said an audit at the time found that there was “no reasonable basis for concluding” that the vice president had the authority to exert such influence. Former Conservative Justice Michael Luttig, who also advised Pence on the issue, said if Pence had heeded Trump’s call at the time, it would have plunged America into a “revolution” and a “constitutional crisis.” Former White House Attorney Eric Herschmann called Trump’s idea “completely insane.”

Luttig warned that Trump and his supporters continue to pose a threat to US democracy. They have already announced that they will try again in the 2024 presidential election to overturn the election results if they do not turn out as they wish.

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