Wall Street Journal - Trump and Pence

Wall Street Journal

POLITICS

Capitol Riot Strains Relationship Between Trump and Pence

Pence believes the president should have done more to quell Wednesday’s violence.

By Catherine Lucey

January 7, 2021

WASHINGTON—Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to abide by the Constitution to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s win has put his relationship with President Trump under increasing strain in the closing days of the administration, said people familiar with the situation.

After days of tension over Mr. Pence’s role at a special session of Congress to certify the election results, the clash between the two spilled into public view Wednesday, as the typically loyal vice president defied his boss during a harrowing day of chaos and violence in the U.S. Capitol.

The turn of events angered the president, who had spent days wrongly insisting that his No. 2 could reject the election results, said people familiar with the issue. Mr. Trump spent much of the day fixated on Mr. Pence, even as the Capitol was breached by a violent pro-Trump mob, forcing the vice president and others into secure locations.

While he rarely publicly criticizes the president, Mr. Pence was frustrated over Mr. Trump’s lack of action to stop the violence, said a person familiar with Mr. Pence’s thinking, saying that the vice president “was appalled that the president did not step up and do the right thing.”

For Mr. Pence, the Congressional session marked a notable moment following years of loyal devotion. In the process, he angered the president and his supporters, but drew praise from some Republicans. His own political future remains an open question as the GOP grapples with the fallout from Mr. Trump’s tenure and Wednesday’s violent disarray.

“I think Pence’s problem is that for four years he was a very loyal Trump supporter,” said Republican consultant Alex Conant. “He was probably the most loyal elected Republican in the country to Trump. And as a result, his political future was very closely tied to Trump’s.”

A person familiar with Mr. Pence’s plans said he was likely to attend Mr. Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, though a senior official in his office said “he and the second lady haven’t made a decision yet.” Mr. Trump hasn’t yet detailed his plans. Mr. Pence is also facing questions about whether he would seek to remove Mr. Trump from office using the 25th Amendment, a remedy suggested by several Democrats on Thursday.

The vice president’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The vice president’s adherence to his constitutionally prescribed role in Congress had been expected. Mr. Pence and Mr. Trump spoke about Mr. Pence’s role repeatedly in the days leading up to the joint session, including a conversation Wednesday ahead of the president’s rally in which the vice president conveyed his plans and stressed the precedent it would set if he veered off course, said a person familiar with Mr. Pence’s thinking.

The person said Mr. Pence knew how his decision would be received by the president and his most loyal supporters, but said that “at the end of the day he is an institutionalist and a constitutionalist.”

There was no evidence of widespread fraud in the election, despite Mr. Trump’s repeated claims. And ahead of Wednesday’s session, the states had already certified their results from their electors, and the vice president doesn’t have the power to alter them, according to legal experts.

Still Mr. Trump raged at Mr. Pence from his rally and later from the White House.

“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,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.

A Republican senator said that Mr. Pence had privately expressed frustration with his boss. Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said Wednesday that he spoke with the vice president, telling reporters at the Capitol that Mr. Pence was very upset over the president’s criticism. In the Tulsa World, Mr. Inhofe was quoting Mr. Pence when saying, “‘After all the things I’ve done for [Trump].’”

Mr. Pence’s office cast doubt on Mr. Inhofe’s description of the conversation. A senior Pence aide said: “In four years, Vice President Mike Pence has never publicly commented on his relationship with President Trump, so I highly doubt he started yesterday.”

A spokesperson for Mr. Inhofe said that when speaking to the press the senator “really wanted to convey his emotions when speaking with the press, especially his anger and hurt on behalf of the Vice President.”`

Some Republicans said Mr. Pence did the right thing in a tough situation.

“In this debacle of the last week or so, there’s one person to me that stands out above all others. And that is Vice President Mike Pence,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.). “The things said about him, the things he was asked to do in the name of loyalty, were over the top, unconstitutional, illegal and would have been wrong for the country.”

Mr. Pence has long sought to show his devotion to the president, standing by him during the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the impeachment of the president by the U.S. House and the tumultuous response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Though he never reveals his future ambitions, he has been seen as likely to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination should Mr. Trump not enter the race.

Appeared in the January 8, 2021, print edition as 'Ties With Pence Are Strained.'