Mike Pence was thoroughly roasted on social media Thursday night after he essentially said in a speech that he agrees to disagree with Donald Trump about the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot. You know, when a mob incited by the ex-President stormed the Capitol and among other things repeatedly called for Pence to be executed.
In an address in New Hampshire, Pence said he still stands by Trump, and essentially dismissed the issue of a seditious, deadly riot nonchalantly, saying:
“President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day. But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.”
This despite the fact that Trump’s supporters erected a gallows outside the Capitol and were captured on video chanting “hang Mike Pence,”
Pence also said, “I will not allow Democrats or their allies in the media to use one tragic day to discredit the aspirations of millions of Americans, or allow Democrats or their allies in the media to distract our attention from a new administration intent on dividing our country to advance their radical agenda.”
Remember, Trump refused to call the rioters off for several hours, after first riling them up by loudly complaining about the fact that Pence wouldn’t illegally overturn the 2020 election. And more relevantly, these same rioters specifically wanted to do harm to Pence.
Trump has said the Jan. 6 riots posed “zero threat” and said some of the rioters were “hugging and kissing” the guards. But as Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell told Don Lemon on CNN Thursday night, he was beaten with a flagpole by rioters and suffered injuries to his hands and feet while holding back waves of people trying to enter the Capitol. Many other officers were injured, including officer Mike Fanone, who was tasered in the neck after attackers tried to “kill him with his own gun.”
Two Capitol Police officers have even sued Trump for the riot, and said in a filing that Trump ““inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” the rioters.
Gonell also said he almost died three separate times that day and noted that five people including Capitol Police officer Brian Sisnick died following the events on Jan. 6.
Of course, Pence’s comments led to a severely negative reaction on social media from Democrats and other people opposed to what happened in January. But rather than angry, most of the reaction focused on how “pathetic” or “cowardly” or other similar adjectives Pence appeared to be.
Pod Save the World co-host Ben Rhodes said Thursday, “Mike Pence is one of the most pathetic figures in the history of American politics.”
Former West Virginia Democratic senator Richard Ojeda called Pence a “cowardly worm” and added, “for four years you served as Trump’s lap dog. All you did was keep Trump’s boots shined… don’t ever try to talk tough.”
Check out more reactions to Pence’s comments below.