Former Vice President Mike Pence assailed the mainstream media for its obsession with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, saying it was a way to “demean” supporters of former President Donald Trump and avoid focusing on the current administration’s failed policies.
“I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration’s failed agenda by focusing on one day in January,” Pence said during a Monday night interview on Fox News.
“They want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020.”
Trump and his supporters, who claimed voter fraud in several battleground states determined the 2020 presidential election, criticized Pence for certifying the Electoral College results on Jan. 6. Still, the former vice president said he and Trump “parted amicably” when they left office.
“You can’t spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,” Pence told Fox News. “Jan. 6 was a tragic day in the history of our Capitol building, but thanks to the efforts of Capitol Hill police [and] federal officials, the Capitol was secured.
“We finished our work, and the president and I sat down a few days later and talked through all of it. I can tell you that we parted amicably at the end of the administration, and we’ve talked a number of times since we both left office.”
The former vice president previously said that he and Trump had spoken “probably about a dozen times since the inauguration.”
Pence, considered a potential contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination (especially if Trump does not run), also slammed Democrats for “massive, big government socialist” spending bills, and President Joe Biden for the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
“[It’s an] example of what weak leadership means on the world stage,” Pence said, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Weakness arouses evil, and there’s no question that the weakness evidenced by the [Biden] administration, I would say beginning when they were silent when thousands of rockets were rained down on our cherished ally Israel from Hamas. That sent a signal into Afghanistan that we would not respond.”
Newsweek reported that Trump was expected to visit Iowa next weekend, adding to the speculation that he again might seek office in 2024.
The mainstream media’s latest focus on Jan. 6 surrounded a Facebook whistleblower who said the social media platform was used to help organize the Capitol violence after the company turned off safety systems following the presidential election.
