‘It didn’t end well’: Details of New Pence book split with Trump

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Vice Pres Mike Pence to blame Donald Trump for threatening his family “and all those who serve at the Capitol” on Jan. 6 in a new memoir released Tuesday.

In “So Help Me God,” Pence speaks for the first time in his own words about the former Republican president’s extraordinary efforts to push him to cancel the results of the 2020 election and shares his account of the day with thousands rioters broke into the Capitolsome chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”

“They came to protest the election results and prevent Congress from fulfilling its duty to open and count the Electoral College votes,” Pence wrote. “And, as I later found out, many came looking for me.”

The book traces Pence’s life in politics, from working as a local Democratic youth coordinator to watching then-Vice President Al Gore confirm his election defeat days after Pence was sworn in as a Congress — largely defends Trump, glossing over and whitewashing many of his most controversial episodes. “I have always been loyal to President Donald Trump,” the book begins.

But Pence, who for years refused to publicly criticize his old boss, made it clear that Jan. 6, 2021, was a watershed moment when, he wrote, “Trump’s reckless words put my family and all those who serve in the Capitol at risk.” .

“For four years we had a close working relationship. It didn’t end well,” Pence wrote, summing up their time in the White House. However, he adds, “we parted amicably when our service to the nation came to an end. In the months that followed, we spoke occasionally, but when the president reverted to the rhetoric he used before that tragic day and began publicly criticizing those of us who defended the Constitution, I decided it was best to go our separate ways.”

The book, published by Simon & Schuster, comes as Pence looks set to run for president in 2024, putting him in direct conflict with Trump, who was waiting for the official start of his own election campaign in Florida on Tuesday night.

Pence, who never directly states in the book that Democrat Joe Biden won fairly, writes that when Trump first proposed holding rally in Washington on January 6On the day Pence was supposed to lead the election certification, he thought it was a good idea. “My first thought was that a rally that day might be useful as a way to draw even more attention to the proceedings in the House and Senate,” he writes.

Instead, Pence describes sitting on the Senate floor presiding over a certification hearing when a Senate lawmaker leaned over to tell him rioters had entered the building and his Secret Service agent rushed toward him to insist they leave. Pence refused to leave the building and was instead taken to the Senate loading dock, where he spent hours, surrounded by staff and family members, calling the military and congressional leaders to coordinate the government’s response as the president — who never bothered to check Pence’s security – sat quietly, watching TV.

“There was a blur of traffic and chaos all around, with security and police officers directing people to safety, staff members screaming and running for cover. I could see the intensity in the Secret Service agent’s eyes; it was also heard in the voices of the Capitol Police. I heard footsteps and angry chants,” Pence wrote. Still, Pence insists he was “not afraid,” just angry at what was unfolding.

At 2:24 p.m., while Pence was hiding, Trump infamously tweeted that Pence “lacked the courage to do what needed to be done to protect our country and our Constitution.”

“I just shook my head,” Pence said. “Truthfully, as reckless as the president’s tweet was, I really didn’t have time for it. The rioters looted the Capitol. … The president decided to become part of the problem. I decided to be part of the solution. I ignored the tweet and went back to work.”

Pence also describes Trump’s campaign to force him to overturn the election results by rejecting Electoral College votes or sending them back to the states, even though the Constitution makes clear that the vice president’s role is purely ceremonial.

During one dinner on November 16, 2020, Pence said he told Trump that “if the legal challenges don’t work out and if he doesn’t want to concede, he can just accept the election results, move forward with the transition and start a political comeback, a Senate runoff win in Georgia, the governor’s race in Virginia in 2021, and the House and Senate races in 2022.”

“When that’s done, I said he could run for president in 2024 and win,” Pence wrote. “He seemed unperturbed, even weary at the prospect.”

“I don’t know, 2024 is so far away,” Pence wrote that Trump told him “before going back to the status of statewide election challenges.”

At another dinner, Pence said he urged Trump “not to look at the election as a loss – just a break” and said that if he “still can’t do it” after exhausting all legal options, Trump should “bow down” and run again later.

“He nodded, pointed at me as if to say, ‘That’s worth thinking about,’ and walked down the hall,” Pence wrote. “I will always wish he had.”

But like the lawsuits pushed by Trump’s legal team continued to failPence writes that Trump’s mood darkened and he became increasingly angry. Pence says Trump barked at him, telling him, “You’re too honest” and predicting that “hundreds of thousands will hate you in their hearts” and “people will think you’re stupid.”

“As the days went by, it became clear that there would be real political costs to me as I lead the certification of the 2020 election,” Pence wrote. “I always knew that I did not have the authority to cancel the election. I knew it would be painful for my friend to participate in the attestation. But my duty was clear.”

After the Capitol was cleared of rioters, Congress reconvened and Pence led the certification of his and Trump’s loss. The two men did not speak for several days. But when they finally met five days later, Pence said they spent more than 90 minutes alone together.

“I told him I had been praying for him for the last four and a half years and encouraged him to pray,” Pence said he told Trump. “Jesus can help you with that,” I said. “Call upon Him.” He didn’t say anything.”

“With genuine sadness in his voice, the president then pondered: ‘What if we didn’t have a rally?’ What if they didn’t go to the Capitol?” Then he said, “It’s too awful to end like this.”