Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) says he has witnessed Vice President Mike Pence grow more and more frustrated with President Donald Trump over the past few days.
After receiving pressure from Trump to help him in his effort to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, Pence reportedly lost his patience with him.
“I’ve known Mike Pence forever,” Inhofe told Tulsa World on Tuesday evening. “I’ve never seen Pence as angry as he was today.”
He continued, “I had a long conversation with him. He said, ‘After all the things I’ve done for [Trump].'”
Inhofe indicated he and his colleagues received threats after refusing to go along with Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.
“We’ve had calls. We’ve had threats. … I have many very, very close friends mad at me, when all I’m doing is upholding my oath,” he said.
Inhofe also commented on the events of Wednesday night when protesters descended on the U.S. Capitol.
“I’d say there were at least 1,000 people in the building,” he said Wednesday evening.
Inhofe argued Trump should have “shown more disdain for the rioters.”
He suggested he did not believe Trump should have apologized, but “he should have expressed more disdain.”
In a letter he wrote on Wednesday to Congress, Pence said he does not have “unilateral authority” to reject electoral votes, as IJR previously reported.
Trump then took to Twitter to criticize Pence.
“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” Trump wrote.
Pence was removed from the Senate chamber as protesters stormed the building, as IJR previously reported.
In a video message, Trump later told the protesters to “go home now.”
