Mike Pence said there was “no pressure involved” to upset the result of the presidential election from Trump when he called governors in 2020.
“I did check in with, not only Gov. Ducey, but other governors and states that were going through the legal process of reviewing their election results, but there was no pressure involved,” Pence, who is now running for president against Trump, said during an interview with “Face the Nation” on CBS that aired Sunday.
Pence’s comments came in light of a report by The Washington Post on Saturday, which said Trump “tried to pressure” Ducey to overturn the state’s presidential election results in a phone call in late 2020, according to the paper. Pence also repeatedly called Ducey on the president’s behalf but “did not follow Trump’s directions to pressure the governor.”
Ducey didn’t promptly answer NBC News’ solicitation for comment.
Pence told Trump he was just “calling to get an update” and gave him information proving the election results.
“Look, these states were going through a process after so much uncertainty about the election outcome in places like Arizona, in places like Georgia. States around the country were going through the legal process of engaging in a review under state law,” he said. “I got updates on that, passed that along, and it was no more, no less than that.”
“I don’t remember any pressure,” he added.
When Arizona’s governor approved the state’s election certification of Biden’s victory, Trump had soured on Ducey, a Republican who had been his close ally throughout the 2020 election. At the time, Trump tweeted that Ducey had “betrayed” the people of Arizona by not supporting the president’s erroneous claim that he had won the state, which Ducey had lost by more than 10,000 votes.
In a video film of Ducey guaranteeing the state’s political decision brought about in November 2020, the lead representative quiets a call that rang to the tune of “Hail to the Chief” — a ringtone he said he utilized explicitly for approaching calls from the White House.
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In the days paving the way to the joint meeting of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, to ensure the political decision results, Trump forced Pence to upset Biden’s triumph as he managed the formal affirmation of the outcomes. Pence denied Trump’s interest and became an objective of a portion of the agitators who raged the Legislative Center that day and recited “Hang Mike Pence.”
Since Pence launched his presidential campaign at the beginning of June, he has intensified his criticism of his former boss, accusing Trump of abandoning conservatism and his constitutional responsibilities.
