Donald Trump will likely not run in 2024 with Mike Pence on the ticket as his running mate if recent statements are any indication.
As we all know, the former vice president refused to reject the electoral vote count in Congress on January 6th despite Trump sending a mob of right-wing domestic terrorists to the Capitol to pressure him into doing so. Pence’s refusal to reject the legitimate results of the 2020 Election is the best thing he has ever done for this country.
Of course, Trump didn’t think so, and he has targeted Pence ever since along with spewing his election lies. Pence himself strongly rejected Trump’s notion that he had the right to overturn the election results.
“President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election,” Pence said. “The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. Frankly, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.”
On Tuesday, Trump told the right-wing rag Washington Examiner that Pence probably won’t be his running mate in 2024 if he runs again and is not in prison by then.
“I don’t think the people would accept it. Mike thought he was going to be a human conveyor belt, that no matter how fraudulent the votes, you have to send them up to the Old Crow,” Trump said in reference to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“But that turned out to be wrong. Because now, as you know, they are feverishly working to try and get it so that the vice president cannot do what Mike said he couldn’t do,” Trump continued. “Mike and I had a great relationship except for the very important factor that took place at the end. We had a very good relationship,” the former president told the news outlet. “I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.”
The 1887 Electoral Count Act and the 12th Amendment of the Constitution say that the vice president has a limited role in the electoral process. That role is opening the votes to count them. He could object, but Congress would have to agree with him by a majority vote, which was not going to happen anyway. Contesting the election would have sparked a serious constitutional crisis based on lies crying election fraud. There is no evidence of fraud unless you count the several Republicans who committed it across the country on behalf of Trump.
Pence did a service to the country and the Constitution on January 6, 2021 while Trump should be prosecuted for trying to overthrow democracy. Trump should also never be allowed to run for office again.
Featured Image: Wikimedia Commons
