Donald Trump berated Mike Pence, calling his then-vice president a “wimp” during their final phone call on Jan. 6, 2021, hours before Congress certified the 2020 election of Joe Biden, according to Pence’s previously unpublished notes included in a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
According to court filings, had his case against Trump gone to trial, special counsel Jack Smith planned to use the handwritten notes – hastily scribbled on Pence’s day planner – as evidence to document the hours before Trump allegedly directed a violent mob to storm the Capitol.
“You’ll go down as a wimp,” Trump told Pence about his decision not to block Biden’s certification, according to Pence’s notes about the call on the morning of Jan. 6, just before the president took the stage at the “Save America” rally on the Ellipse. “If you do that, I made a big mistake 5 years ago,” Pence wrote Trump told him.
This story once again reminds me of how chillingly close we came to dictatorship during that 2020 election. Sadly, trump’s failure to cling to power then only bought us 4 years.
There were so many WIMPS, so many chances to stop him wasted by cowardice. Two impeachments where repubs protected him (they hated his power over them and had two chances to exercise their own power and get rid of him once and for all–since he wouldn’t have been able to run again if they’d convicted him.
Then after the almost miraculous ousting of him, Biden and the Dems refused take action to stop him: He should have had him arrested for Jan 6 and/or other crimes - but no, Biden appointed Merrick Garland who – speaking of the word wimp --makes Pence look like Captain America.
Dems could also have passed any of a number of laws that would have made it difficult or impossible for him to run again (they did pass a couple of useful but wimpy laws). Biden and Congress could have expanded the Supreme Court. So many opportunities to shore up our democracy, just thrown away for lack of courage to meet the moment.
I’m soooo glad we’re getting another book about this shit instead of it ever being released to the public, you know, when it fucking mattered.
That’s Joe Biden’s legacy. He didn’t put Trump in jail. That’s what he’ll be remembered for.
💯
The Supreme Court literally ruled that a President cannot be held accountable for activities that are part of Presidential duties, and all he had to do was lock up Trump and run out the time on the court system just like Trump does on whether or not locking up Trump fell under “Presidential duties.” He literally had the solution handed to him on a silver fucking platter and pissed away the opportunity to use his position and powers to save anyone.
He could have locked up Trump without stretching the law in any way. The fucker is guilty as hell on so many counts, it just would have been a matter of actually putting some effort into prosecuting him.
How does this continue to be a talking point when they made it extremely clear the ruling only would be applied to republican decisions?
They literally made that ruling when a Democrat had 2 years left in his term. They told Biden that the president is above the law, but Biden chose to sit on his hands and do nothing.
All Biden had to do was do it at the last minute and run out the legal clock that rule that it was wrong just like Trump has done with the judicial system.
Sure the supreme court would make moves to take up the case almost immediately and rule against Biden. Just like with Trump, even if we proved Trump rigged the election now the election was already certified and a done deal, we don’t have systems for removing someone in that capacity other than impeachment. However, by that point Harris would have been President and they would have had to impeach each successor to the President until they came to a Republican who would replace him. That would have meant impeaching Harris, and then Walz, and so on. Impeachment of Walz would have been a harder job, too, since there would have been very little to tie him to Biden’s act.
The best they could have done would have been making Trump speaker of the house to put him in the line of succession but the Democrats could have slowed down impeachment proceedings to a crawl as well, dragging it out for months and months and reducing the likelihood of the plan even working and leaving Trump with a job he didn’t even want as speaker of the house.
However even if they made Trump speaker, his criminal cases would have had the time to wind through the courts and put him permanently behind bars, making it more difficult to keep him in his position as speaker of the house.
Anyway, the point is Democrats had every opportunity to play the same bullshit games that Republicans have played and continue to play to exert their power over government without the consent of the governed. All they had to do was do it close enough to the election that our systems of judicial checks and balances would have ruled against him after the election was over and Biden was no longer President.
Democrat voters didn’t have the stomach for even a quarter of what you just suggested and much of it relies on old people who don’t really care that much falling on sharp swords for the greater good.
It also pretend that Republicans would follow the law in that case when the current problem is that they frequently don’t.
More than that, I bet that Donald would win from prison if arrested. I me a dude hung his mug shot up 8j the oval office.
Modern day James Buchanan
He is ultimately a republican, so a huge fan of hierarchy and hurting marginalized people.
Buy the book hail the line that goes up. Your blood feeds the machine.
I only have one good thing to say about Pence: I don’t think a wimp would have made that final decision to certify. On that one decision, he gets my respect.
After hearing those threats, you’re absolutely correct. There was a fucking gallows setup outside for him!
Simply doing his job should not gain him respect. But that’s how low the bar is for these asshats.
Didn’t he have threats on his life for doing it? I think that’s respectable even if he’s not a good person in other ways. We all know many people that would simply capitulate in those circumstances.
I can see your point but to me that’s like watching goodfellas and at the end saying Henry was a good guy after all because he testified against the mob.
Pence was between a rock and a hard place and made a decision based on himself more than saving America or whatever. Looking back, I wonder if he would have tried to go along with the coup, would that have been better long term. It’s doubtful it would have worked, and maybe some real action with consequences would have come about. Now we are stuck with Trump as a dictator.
But he is a wimp. 🤷♂️
Yeah a non-wimp would have 25th amendmented Trump’s loony ass.
Oh right, because it only takes one person to do that right?
People couch quarterbacking but getting the basics wrong is infuriating.
This guy is trash but some of the “if I, an internet tough guy, was in his shoes, I’d [completely unrealistic if not impossible magic solution]” make me lose hope.
I think it’s more the >4 years standing next to trump gazing admiringly at him raving incoherently that’ll make him go down as a wimp.
Has anyone heard from Jack Smith? Has this administration had him killed yet?
