Former Vice President Mike Pence, though he’s been more vocal of his criticisms of former President Trump in recent days, defended the Republican National Committee describing Jan. 6 as ‘legitimate political discourse’ and said the reference has been misinterpreted.
Pence backed up the RNC’s censure of Reps. Liz Cheney, Wyo. and Adam Kinzinger, Ill., though he repeated his assertion that ‘January 6th was a tragic day.’
Speaking at Stanford University before the school’s College Republicans club, he said that he does not think the RNC’s resolution was ‘talking about people that engaged in violence against persons or property that day.’
The measure was adopted by voice vote by the committee’s membership at the RNC’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. Several RNC members voted nay, but they were in the minority.
‘Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. That’s why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution,’ RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement Friday.
Pence said that the statement was referring to ‘a whole range of people that have been set upon’ by the House committee investigating Jan. 6, according to the Washington Post.
The RNC has since said it was not referring to the violent insurrectionists, but the resolution has drawn criticism from Republicans too.
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., described the attack as a ‘violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, after a legitimately-certified election, from one administration to the next.’
Speaking at Stanford University before the school’s College Republicans club, he said that he does not think the RNC’s resolution was ‘talking about people that engaged in violence against persons or property that day’
Pence said that the statement was referring to ‘a whole range of people that have been set upon’ by the House committee investigating Jan. 6
‘The issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC,’ he said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said it was ‘absurd’ for the RNC to use ‘legitimate political discourse’ to describe Jan. 6. She said the censure might hurt Republicans in the midterms.
‘Every moment that is spent re-litigating a lost election or defending those who have been convicted of criminal behavior moves us further away from the goal of victory this fall,’ Collins said.
‘I just don’t know too many people around the country, including my friends at the RNC, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who have any different view than it was tragic day, that the people that ransacked the Capitol were wrong and should be held to account in the law,’ Pence said. ‘And I think they made a very clear statement, after the fact, that said, ‘We were talking about what’s happening in Washington today, with the January 6th committee’ … and I believe them. They’re good people, and I believe that’s what they meant.’
Pence’s Stanford address was his first public foray since he said two weeks ago that Trump was ‘wrong’ to insist he had any right to overturn the presidential election results on Jan. 6.
‘Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger crossed a line. They chose to join Nancy Pelosi in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse that had nothing to do with violence at the Capitol. That’s why Republican National Committee members and myself overwhelmingly support this resolution,’ RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement Friday
‘I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong,’ Pence said in a defiant speech before the Federalist Society in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ‘I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone.’
Trump in turn bashed his former VP and again laid blame on Pence for putting President Biden in the White House.
‘Just saw Mike Pence’s statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything with respect to the Electoral Vote Count, other than being an automatic conveyor belt for the Old Crow Mitch McConnell to get Biden elected President as quickly as possible,’ Trump wrote in a statement.
But Pence, speaking at Stanford, bypassed the opportunity to knock Trump directly again.
‘The Constitution was quite clear on that tragic day in January,’ Pence said in response to a student’s question on election certification. ‘I knew what my duty was. And I kept my oath even though it hurt. And we moved the nation forward. And I don’t know if the president and I will ever see eye to eye on that. I really don’t.’
