ABC’s Jon Karl Confronts Pence With Stunning Audio of Trump Defending ‘Hang Mike Pence!’ Chanters: He’s ‘Justifying’ People ‘Calling for You to Be Hanged!’
Former Vice President Mike Pence faced an intense interview from ABC News’s Jon Karl — during which he was forced to directly respond to Donald Trump defending his supporters who wanted to hunt him down and execute him.
Pence spoke with Karl amid Trump’s calls for his supporters to protest the possibility that the former president will be indicted over the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal. In one part of the conversation, Karl asked Pence about Trump attempting to blame him for the siege Trump’s supporters launched on the U.S. Capitol.
PENCE: Well, I know one of the attorneys that was advising the president said the same thing in a text on January the 6th.
KARL: Yes, John Eastman.
PENCE: But his attorneys were wrong, and President Trump is wrong. I know by god’s grace we did our duty that day, to act out the expressed language of the Constitution of the United States. States control elections. Once states send electoral votes to the Congress, the only role the Congress has is to open and count. They can consider objections which Democrats brought in which Republicans prevailed. They can consider it, but at the end of the day, the job of the Congress is to open and count electoral votes certified by the states, no more, no less.
Shortly after, Karl followed up by rolling audio from an interview he conducted with Trump back in 2021 — during which Trump defended the Capitol rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence” because the vice president refused Trump’s unconstitutional demand that he overturn his 2020 election defeat.
KARL: I mean, he’s effectively justifying, or excusing, the actions of people who were calling for you to be hanged!
PENCE: There is no excuse for the violence that took place at the Capitol on January 6th, and I’ll never diminish it as long as I live, but, look…The president’s wrong. He was wrong that day, and I actually hoped he would come around in time, ton. That he would see the cadre of legal advisers he had him with had led him astray, and he hasn’t done so. i think it’s one of the reasons why this country just wants a fresh start.
KARL: Does justifying those murderous chants, does that effectively disqualify him from being commander-in-chief again?
PENCE: I think that’s a judgment for the American people to make.
KARL: What’s your judgment about it?
PENCE: I’m confident they’ll make it. Look, I’ll be honest with you. I was angry that day, and while I believe in forgiveness, I have been working hard at that for awhile. The president let me down that day. He let the country down that day, but thanks to the courage of law enforcement, the riot was quelled. We reconvened the conference the very same day, and that very same day of tragedy became a day of freedom and I’ll be proud of our small part in that, but to be honest with you the emotions of that day, the emotions since, I just haven’t had time for it. To me, there’s just too many issues that we’re facing in this country today under the failed policies of this administration that — I don’t have a lot of time for looking backwards.
KARL: Could you ever support him again for president?
PENCE: I think that’s yet to be seen, Jon.
Watch above via ABC.
