Former Vice President Mike Pence told former President Trump that he was “angry” about what transpired during the Jan 6., 2021, attack at the Capitol, according to an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
Pence described a meeting with Trump five days after the Capitol insurrection. He said the then-president asked him about the safety of his family, saying that he had just learned that Pence’s wife and daughter were at the Capitol.
“Were you scared?” Pence recalled Trump asking.
“‘No,’ I replied, ‘I was angry. You and I had our differences that day, Mr. President, and seeing those people tearing up the Capitol infuriated me,” Pence said he told Trump in their meeting, noting that Trump’s voice seemed faint and he looked tired.
Pence also told Trump that the rioters at the Capitol were not his “true” supporters, as Trump mentioned that his supporters were upset about the results of the 2020 election.
“I said, ‘Those people who broke into the Capitol might’ve been supporters, but they are not our movement.’ For five years, we had both spoken to crowds of the most patriotic, law-abiding, God-fearing people in the country,” Pence wrote.
“What if we hadn’t had the rally? What if they hadn’t gone to the Capitol?” Trump told Pence, per the op-ed. “It’s too terrible to end like this.”
Pence’s article was adapted from his forthcoming memoir, “So Help Me God,” which is slated to be released Tuesday.
Pence has been prominent figure on the campaign trail ahead of the midterms and is seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.
The House select committee investigating the attack has detailed how Trump and his allies pressured Pence not to certify President Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the panel’s vice chairwoman, has called Pence a “hero” for resisting that pressure.
Trump, who faces a slew of legal and federal investigations against him and his business, announced at an Ohio rally on Monday that he plans to make a major announcement on Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago estate — which many expect to be the launch of another White House bid.