Donald Trump "endangered my family" on January 6, says Mike Pence

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday harshly criticised former President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol widening the rift between the two men as they prepare to battle over the Republican nomination in next years electionPresident Trump was wrong Pence said during remarks at the annual whitetie Gridiron Dinner attended by politicians and journalists I had no right to overturn the election And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountablePences remarks were the sharpest condemnation yet from the onceloyal lieutenant who has often shied away from confronting his former boss Trump has already declared his candidacy Pence has not but hes been laying the groundwork to run In the days leading up to January 6 2021 Trump pressured Pence to overturn President Joe Bidens election victory as he presided over the ceremonial certification of the resultsPence refused and when rioters stormed the Capitol some chanted that they wanted to hang Mike Pence The House committee that investigated the attack said in its final report that the President of the United States had riled up a mob that hunted his own Vice PresidentAlso Read Donald Trump calls Rihanna lsquonothingrsquoWith his remarks Pence solidified his place in a broader debate within the Republican Party over how to view the attack House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for example recently provided Tucker Carlson with an archive of security camera footage from January 6 which the Fox News host has used to downplay the days events and promote conspiracy theoriesMake no mistake about it what happened that day was a disgrace Pence said in his Gridiron Dinner remarks And it mocks decency to portray it any other way Trump meanwhile has continued to spread lies about his election loss Hes even spoken in support of the rioters and said he would consider pardoning them if he was reelectedSpeeches at the Gridiron Dinner are usually humorous affairs where politicians poke fun at each other and Pence did plenty of that as well He joked that Trumps ego was so fragile he wanted his vice president to sing Wind Beneath My Wings one of the lines is did you ever know that youre my hero during their weekly lunchesHe took another shot at Trump over classified documents I read that some of those classified documents they found at MaraLago were actually stuck in the presidents Bible Pence said Which proves he had absolutely no idea they were there Even before the dinner was over Pence was facing criticism for his jokes about Transportation Secretary Buttigieg the first openly gay Cabinet member in US historyPence mentioned that despite travel problems that were plaguing Americans Buttigieg took maternity leave after he and his husband adopted newborn twins Pete is the only person in human history to have a child and everyone else gets postpartum depression Pence saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever