The attack on the United States Capitol marked the rift between Donald Trump and his loyal Vice President Mike Pence, who plans to attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and ease the transition between the two governments.
Trump announced that he will not be attending the inauguration ceremony of whoever defeated him in the election, but Pence has already announced that he will attend.
While the outgoing vice president’s presence comes as no surprise – and Biden said it will be “welcome” – it is testament to the chasm separating Trump from his right arm since Wednesday’s certification of the Democrat’s election victory.
Trump and Pence have not spoken since that day, according to the press, when a mob of supporters of the president stormed Congress in an action that killed five and shocked the United States and the world.
Cuelguen and Mike Pence
“One of the most loyal to Donald Trump is now the number one public enemy in the universe,” the president said, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger summed up on ABC on Sunday.
Despite pressure from Trump, Pence announced on Wednesday that he would not oppose the validation in Congress of the results of the presidential election, unleashing the ire of the president and his supporters.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what he should have done to protect our country and our constitution,” Trump tweeted as his supporters stormed the Capitol.
Videos posted on social media show some of them singing “Hang Mike Pence” outside the Capitol. Other militants walked through the hallways of the Temple of American Democracy, calling the vice president a “coward,” according to The New York Times.
During that chaos, the vice president and his family were entrenched in a Capitol bunker. Trump did not call to inquire about his safety, according to NBC.
Loyal support
Fearless and discreet, Pence is considered one of Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters.
He has not yet responded to requests from many parliamentarians who have urged him to activate the 25th amendment to the constitution, which would allow the removal of a president deemed “unfit” to perform his duties.
Before he attacked him, the Republican president’s followers praised his loyalty, while his critics denounced his admiration for the president.
“He’s solid as a rock. He was a fantastic vice president,” Donald Trump said of him last summer.
Pence, 61, was a silent presence amid storm Trump for four years.
Appointed to head the Coronavirus Crisis Unit in March, he made measured statements on the issue throughout the year, far from the president’s outbursts, assumptions and provocations. Although always careful not to contradict him.
Mike Pence and Donald Trump weren’t particularly close before hiring him as a roster partner in 2016.
Trump is said to have even considered switching electoral partners, preferring ultimately to bet on Pence’s close ties to mostly older white Christian voters, who ultimately played a key role in the duo’s 2016 victory.