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Former Vice President Mike Pence, delivering his strongest public rebuke but to the president who made him his working mate, mentioned on Saturday night time “that historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable” for the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, which he referred to as “a shame.”
The annual Gridiron Membership Dinner in Washington is normally a venue for lighthearted ribbing between political figures, authorities officers and the district’s media veterans, however Mr. Pence used the event on Saturday to dig into Mr. Trump at a second when conservative media commentators and a few Republicans in Congress have once more tried to dismiss the seriousness of the Capitol riot.
“Vacationers don’t injure 140 cops by sightseeing,” Mr. Pence mentioned, in keeping with media stories from the occasion, an implicit rebuke of the Fox Information host Tucker Carlson and different conservatives who’ve used selective safety digital camera footage to reframe the riot as a largely peaceable demonstration. 1000’s of hours of that footage was launched to Mr. Carlson by the Home speaker, Kevin McCarthy of California. “Vacationers don’t break down doorways to get to the speaker of the Home or voice threats in opposition to public officers.”
And Mr. Pence made his reprimand of Mr. Trump private when he mentioned, “President Trump was mistaken; I had no proper to overturn the election. And his reckless phrases endangered my household and everybody on the Capitol that day. And I do know that historical past will maintain Donald Trump accountable.”
The timing of the remarks was vital. Mr. Trump and his ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, are the one two main, declared candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, however different potential challengers are edging nearer. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is on a swing via early major and caucus states, together with Iowa and Nevada. Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, is on a “listening tour” in the identical states. Mr. Pence is contemplating a run as properly.
However till Saturday, any rival jabs on the former president and presumed front-runner for the nomination have been implicit. Mr. Pence referred to as him out by title, setting a brand new bar for different Republicans hoping to switch Mr. Trump because the social gathering’s chief.
Early this month, a bunch of males imprisoned for his or her participation within the Capitol assault launched a music titled “Justice for All” — the nationwide anthem interspersed with Mr. Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance — and Home Republicans on the social gathering’s proper flank have began what they’re calling an investigation into the therapy of such “political prisoners.”
Mr. Pence was unsparing in his condemnation of such efforts, in addition to the selective modifying of hundreds of hours of safety footage.
“The American folks have a proper to know what befell on the Capitol on Jan. 6,” he mentioned. “However make no mistake about it, what occurred that day was a shame, and it mocks decency to painting it in every other means.”
He additionally jokingly hinted at his presidential ambitions.
“I’ll wholeheartedly, unreservedly assist the Republican nominee for president in 2024,” he mentioned. “If it’s me.”
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