WASHINGTON – Vice President Mike Pence will participate in the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, according to a person familiar with his decision.
Loyal lieutenant to President Donald Trump, Pence was criticized by the president for his role in counting the votes of the Electoral College in Congress and was one of the people arrested inside the U.S. Capitol when Trump supporters broke into the building while votes were being counted.
“While the vice president and his family were in a bunker on the Capitol, the president did not seek to verify his safety or condemn those who said the vice president should be executed,” said sources familiar with the matter. The video shows protesters shouting, “Hang Pence!”
“We strongly condemn all calls for violence, including those against any member of this government,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.
President Donald Trump said on Friday he would not attend, and Biden later said the decision was “one of the few things we agreed on”.
The Washington Post reported for the first time that Pence would attend. NBC News reported on Thursday that Pence’s presence was expected.
Trump asked Pence to reject electoral votes in an attempt to overturn the election.
Biden was expected to have a reduced opening, without the traditional parade and crowds at the National Mall. The associated celebrations will be minor or even ignored.
The National Guard was on a 30-day mobilization for the inauguration after Wednesday’s Capitol riots. Right-wing extremists who believe that Trump’s loss was the result of an unproven electoral fraud that promised to return to Washington for inauguration.
Dennis Romero contributed.