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Mike Pence calls Donald Trump's attempt to overturn election 'unAmerican' in rare attack
The ex-president is said to have told the ex-vice-president he was still disappointed in him for not blocking certification of the election
Former vice president Mike Pence offered his strongest rebuke yet of Donald Trump, calling his attempt to overturn the election “unAmerican” and in doing so pitting himself against the Republican Party.
Mr Pence directly took on Mr Trump's claim that the former governor of Indiana had the unilateral power to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office by blocking congressional certification of the results.
"President Trump is wrong," Mr Pence told a crowd at the Federalist Society in Florida on Friday. "I had no right to overturn the election. And frankly, there is no idea more unAmerican than the notion that any one person could choose the American president. Under the Constitution, I have no right to change the outcome of our election.”
In a rambling statement issued in response, the 75-year-old former president refrained from attacking Mr Pence but said “I was right and everyone knows it.”
Mr Pence had until now largely stayed quiet about Mr Trump’s role in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, fearful of provoking Mr Trump’s considerable support base.
His decision to speak out makes him the most high-profile Republican to publicly question Mr Trump's false claims about the 2020 election.
Mr Pence, 62, appeared to be beginning to lay the groundwork for a potential run for president in 2024, which could put him in direct competition with his former boss, who is also teasing a comeback run.
Mr Trump has not formally declared his intention to run, but instead has said he would wait to see what happens at the midterm elections later this year.
Mr Pence is a possible contender, but lags far behind Mr Trump in opinion polling.
Recent weeks have seen political jockeying between Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who
Party leaders at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting this past week left no doubt that the GOP is choosing to serve Mr Trump and his political interests before the next presidential election.
The RNC, which controls the party's rules and infrastructure, is under no obligation to support Trump again. In fact, the GOP's bylaws specifically require neutrality should more than one candidate seek the party's presidential nomination.
"If President Trump decides he's running, absolutely the RNC needs to back him, 100 per cent," said Michelle Fiore, an RNC committeewoman who has represented Nevada since 2018. "We can change the bylaws."