Mike Pence survived the Jan. 6 insurrection, but Donald Trump isn't done with him yet. At an evangelical political conference in Nashville on Friday, Trump used a keynote speech to once again disparage Pence's lack of "courage" to overturn the 2020 election.
“Mike Pence had a chance to be great," Trump told attendees of the Faith and Freedom Coalition's "Road to Majority" conference. "He had a chance to be, frankly, historic, but just like Bill Barr and the rest of these weak people, Mike did not have the courage to act," Trump said, also taking a swipe at his one-time attorney general whose candid deposition has made him a star witness in the Jan. 6 hearings.
Trump also predictably blasted the Jan. 6 investigation as a "one-sided witch hunt" and said the House select committee investigating the attack was spinning a "ludicrous narrative" about his involvement.
“There’s no cleaner example of the menacing spirit that has devoured the American left than the disgraceful performance being staged by the ‘unselect’ committee,” Trump charged. “They’re con people. They’re con artists. Every one of them is a radical left hater, hates all of you, hates me even more than you, but I’m just trying to help you out."
Never mind the fact that the vast majority of witnesses have been stalwart Republicans, particularly loyalists from Trump's inner circle who held top positions in both his administration and his 2020 reelection campaign.
But amid his rambling hour-long diatribe Friday, Trump devoted a good amount of energy to trashing his former vice president, calling him a "robot" and a "human conveyor belt" for accepting the legal advice that he did not possess the sole authority to overturn the election.
One of the biggest bombshells from the Jan. 6 hearings has been Donald Trump's contemptuous disregard for the physical safety of his own vice president.
Jan. 6 committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney of Wyoming relayed in one hearing that Trump suggested his supporters might "have the right idea" after the terrorists broke out in chants of "Hang Mike Pence!" Trump added that Pence "deserves it."
But that crowd didn't come to that conclusion in a vacuum. Trump lathered them into a fury by first raising his supporters hopes that the two men were "in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act."
Trump issued that total fabrication the day before the Jan. 6 assault. On the afternoon of Jan. 5, Trump also tweeted, "The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors."
On rally day, Trump starting beating the coup drum again at around 6:00 a.m. "If Vice President @Mike_Pence comes through for us, we will win the Presidency. Many States want to decertify the mistake they made in certifying incorrect & even fraudulent numbers in a process NOT approved by their State Legislatures (which it must be). Mike can send it back!" he tweeted.
During his speech to the crowd gathered at the Ellipse around noon, Trump again painted Pence as the linchpin to overturning the election.
"Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country, and if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you," Trump said, setting up rally attendees for the grievous betrayal he already knew was likely to come.
In fact, the Jan. 6 committee revealed this week that none of the early drafts of Trump's speech even mentioned Pence. Trump had simply taken it upon himself to extemporaneously pit the crowd against Pence.
After the crowd had breached the Capitol and Pence failed to take action, Trump sent another tweet
Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!
Within minutes, the pro-Trump terrorists were inflamed as they repeated Trump's tweet over bullhorns and concluded Pence's betrayal was now punishable by death.
So when they finally broke out in death chants and Trump suggested they "had the right idea," he was simply congratulating himself on a job well done.
Based on his remarks to the evangelicals Friday, it appears Trump's only regret is that his supporters didn't finish the job.
No comments:
Post a Comment