Ex-Vice Pence continues to distance himself from Trump Wagner boss Prigozhin jokes about brutal execution

Former US Vice President Mike Pence, who is said to have ambitions for White House chairman, continues to distance himself from his former superior Donald Trump. Their relationship placed a particular strain on Trump’s behavior during his supporters’ attack on the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump’s statements at the time were dangerous, Pence said in an interview broadcast by ABC TV on Monday. “It was clear that he decided to be part of the problem.”

Trump supporters had stormed the Houses of Parliament while Pence presided over Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election. Trump had previously inflamed the crowd at a rally near the White House by repeating his false accusations of alleged voter fraud.

Trump had also claimed the days before that Pence could simply dismiss the election results of individual states — which legal experts and the vice president viewed as illegal. During the attack, Trump then tweeted that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what had to be done”. Calls were heard in the crowd for Pence to hang. Pence was escorted to his motorcade by bodyguards, but refused to leave the Capitol loading dock, as he noted in excerpts from his Wall Street Journal memoir. After the attack ended, Congress, under his presidency, completed confirming Biden’s victory.

Trump is expected to announce a new presidential candidacy on Wednesday evening. With a view to the 2024 election, Pence is seen as a potential competitor to Trump, as is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (sda/dpa)