Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, according to at least two reports.
The vice president would likely make an appearance to show support for the peaceful transfer of power, Politico said first, citing three sources close to Pence.
The decision came after protesters invaded the United States Capitol on Wednesday and after President Trump criticized Pence for certifying Biden’s election, rather than unilaterally canceling the results and returning them to the states.
“It was a much more difficult decision a few days ago, but less difficult now,” one of the sources told Politico.
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In a deleted tweet, Trump wrote: “Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution, giving states the chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones that were asked to certify in advance. The US demands the truth! “
Senator Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, told a newspaper that Pence was upset about the president’s expectations of him.
“I’ve known Mike Pence forever,” Inhofe told Tulsa World. “I have never seen Pence as angry as he is today. He said, ‘After all the things I did for (Trump).'”
Pence’s press secretary, Devin O’Malley, wrote in a tweet on Thursday afternoon that the vice president had not yet been invited to the inauguration.
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“You can’t come to something you haven’t received an invitation for,” he wrote after the Politico’s report.
He told the outlet that Pence and second lady Karen Pence “have not yet made a decision on their presence”.
A source from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies told CNN that the committee planned to wait until after certification to contact because of the “noise around the election results”.
Outgoing presidents traditionally participate in the inauguration of their successor, but Trump has contested the election in recent months and has given no indication as to whether he plans to appear. He can fly to Mar-a-Lago before the inauguration, Politico said.
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Thursday, however, Trump committed to an “orderly” transition of power after the Capitol rebellion and condemned it as a “heinous attack”.