In a speech that largely praised former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence offered a gentle admission: he still doesn’t “see eye-to-eye” with Trump about the deadly Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
“President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye-to-eye on that day,” Pence said in a speech at the Hillsborough County GOP’s annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Moments later, he appeared to still be singing Trump’s praises saying that in spite of the pro-Trump mob’s attack on Capitol he will “always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.”
“I will not allow Democrats or their allies in the media to use one tragic day to discredit the aspirations of millions of Americans,” he added.
After briefly acknowledging on Thursday that Jan. 6 was “a dark day,” Pence accused Democrats of using the attack perpetrated by Trump’s followers — that sent lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to scurry for shelter — to divide the GOP.
The violent siege that day left five people dead and had imperiled Pence’s life — pro-Trump rioters could be heard storming the Capitol and shouting “Hang Mike Pence.”
Earlier on Jan. 6, Trump had falsely suggested that Pence could stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory — effectively making his second-in-command a target for some of the rioters that breached the Capitol.
Pence’s remarks, appeared to cast his own hurried evacuation from the Senate floor with his family on Jan. 6, in a murky, if not forgetful light.
The speech also comes after Senate Republicans last week blocked legislation to form an independent commission to investigate Jan. 6.
“My fellow Republicans, for our country, for our future, for our children and our grandchildren, we must move forward,” Pence said Thursday.
