On Wednesday, House impeachment administrators repeatedly praised former Vice President Mike Pence for his actions during the January 6 Capitol rebellion, setting aside previous criticisms of Pence as they tried to convince Senate Republicans to condemn former President Donald Trump.
The positive comments about Pence are a dramatic change from how some of the Democratic managers previously spoke about the former vice president.
A crowd trying to prevent Biden’s Electoral College’s victory certification and others online threatened the former vice president as they invaded the Capitol after he said he had no authority to override the results of the 2020 presidential election while Congress voted. to certify the votes of the Electoral College.
Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died during the attack, which forced Pence and other lawmakers to flee the House and Senate chambers.
In this image from the video, a security video shows Vice President Mike Pence being evacuated while protesters violate the Capitol. (Senate Television via AP)
Representative Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Detailed how Trump turned against Pence before electoral certification in Congress.
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“Vice President Pence stood firm as our other brave officials maintained their position. He refused the president and did his duty on January 6, even after the capital was attacked. Even after being personally targeted. Even after your family was attacked, “Lieu said.
The deputy continued: “Vice President Pence showed us what it means to be an American, what it means to show courage. He placed his country, his oath, his values and his morals above the will of a man.”
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Lieu quoted a phrase from Trump’s speech “Save America” during the rally, during which Trump said he would not “like” Pence “so much” if he certified the election results after the Congressional vote and attacked the former vice president “almost a dozen times.”
In this image from the video, Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., Speaks during ex-President Donald Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial at the US Capitol in Washington, D, C., Wednesday, February 10 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
The California representative also quoted a New York Times report that said Trump said to Pence: “You can go down in history as a patriot or you can go down in history as a p — y.”
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Representative Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands D praised Pence for her letter saying he could not certify the election results and for his “courage to oppose the president, tell the truth to the American public and defend our constitution”.
“This is patriotism. This patriotism is also what put the vice president in such danger on January 6 by the crowd sent by our president,” said Plaskett.
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Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, also praised Pence for “following his faith, his duty and his oath to our nation”.
In this image from the video, House impeachment manager, Dep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, speaks during ex-President Donald Trump’s second Senate impeachment trial at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Wednesday, 10 February 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
((Senate Television via AP))
“I don’t agree much on politics, but he is a man who defends his oath, his faith, his duty and, above all, he defends the Constitution,” said Castro. “And Mike Pence is not a traitor. To this country. He is a patriot.”
But in 2018 tweet, Castro called Pence a “zombie Trump”.
In December, Lieu accused the former vice president of “enabling crazy conspiracy theories” about the election.
“You reap what you sow”, he tweeted.
The California congressman also accused Pence of “lying” about COVID-19 data last summer, and he claimed in 2019 that Pence discriminates against the LGBTQ community.
Pence’s team told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace during a phone call that there remains some lingering bitterness between Pence and Trump after the disturbances because the president did not ask about the safety of his second-in-command, Wallace said “The Story” on Wednesday.
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.