9/12/2023 0 Comments Mike pence twitter wallpaperThe only person telling Pence he did have the authority was Trump’s attorney John Eastman, whose specious arguments would have probably gotten him bounced from a basic constitutional-law course. Michael Luttig, told him that of course he had no authority, constitutional or statutory, to do what Trump was asking. It seems everyone he consulted while he wavered (and he clearly wavered), including former Republican vice-president Dan Quayle and greatly respected conservative legal scholar J. I’m in no position to judge whether the VP really was in danger that day perhaps the January 6 committee will cast more light on that.īut didn’t Pence show great courage in defying Trump to begin with? Well, that’s less clear. It’s true that some members of the mob looked at Pence as a traitor and might have done him harm if given the opportunity, as they threatened with their “Hang Mike Pence” chant. Last also stresses Pence’s personal courage on January 6, and maybe he has a point. There were other protections in place had Pence played the toady. So while Pence’s refusal to act might have saved the Republic from a crisis even worse than the one we experienced on January 6, let’s not credit him for saving the Constitution on his own. The courts would have almost certainly intervened, and had Trump just refused to leave the White House on January 20 when it was time for Biden to take office, I think military intervention would have been a real possibility. If he had instead abruptly adjourned the January 6 joint session to (as Trump kept putting it) “send it back to the states” … again, where would this have led? Congress could have called itself back into a joint session to do its job with or without Pence’s consent, and the machinery wasn’t in place for Trump to get the electors he needed from Republican legislators. Had Pence tried to recognize fake Trump electors, he would almost certainly have been overruled by Congress. I respect Last for acknowledging it’s not at all likely that the Pence-led coup Trump demanded would have worked. Last’s basic argument is that if someone more subservient to Trump (if that’s possible) had been in Pence’s position, then … well, “it’s not clear what would have happened next,” as he puts it. ![]() Because while Pence may not be the hero you or I might have wanted, he was the hero America needed. And then Joe Biden could give Pence the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The House and Senate could propose nonpartisan resolutions recognizing Pence for his service to democracy. And he means serious love:Ĭongress can name a building in his honor. Last (whom I greatly esteem) suggested in The Atlantic that Democrats could take away some of the partisan atmospherics of their inquiry by showing some serious love to Pence. As the House committee investigating January 6 prepares to launch public hearings, Jonathan V. ![]() So yes, Pence’s refusal to take a blatantly unconstitutional and perhaps even treasonous action mattered a great deal.īut let’s not get carried away. And the mob Trump incited to attack the Capitol could not have done anything other than delay the inevitable for a day or two (or, as it happened, a few hours). There were never enough votes in the Democratic-controlled Congress to overturn the recognition of Biden electors. The more we understand about what was happening that day, the clearer it is that everything else Trump did depended on Pence playing his assigned role. He was clearly under a lot of pressure to do so from the Boss, whose other plays to stay in power had failed by then. I am really glad, even grateful, that then–Vice-President Mike Pence didn’t obey Donald Trump’s order to use imaginary vice-presidential powers to stop the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election on January 6, 2021. Photo: Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images Mike Pence, fulfilling his job duties on January 6, 2021.
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