Former Vice President Mike Pence explained to a crowd at the Iowa State Fair why he did not stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, slamming the idea that āone person could pickā the president as being āun-American.ā
Speaking to a crowd of supporters for both Pence and former President Donald Trump, who had clashed with each other during a Q&A session the former vice president was taking part, Pence explained he had taken an āoath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.ā
At the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, Pence had been asked by a Trump heckler why he committed ātreason on Jan. 6ā and didnāt āstand by President Trump,ā to which another man stood up, pointed at the heckler, and said, āI am a veteran buddy. You shut your mouth!ā
āLook, let me take you to Jan. 20, 2017. I put my left hand on Ronald Reaganās Bible and I raised my right hand and I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America,ā Pence told the crowd.
Pence went on to explain that his son, who is serving as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, told him that it was āthe exact same oath that he took. It was a promise I made to the American people. It was a promise I made to almighty God.ā
The states have the power to āconduct our elections,ā Pence said.
āIf you read Article Two of the Constitution, which I recommend you very respectfully, Article Two says once the states send their electoral votes to the Congress of the United States, the vice president, as president of the Senate, will preside over a joint session of Congress, and what it says is at that joint session the electoral votes shall be opened and shall be counted,ā Pence said.
Pence explained the Constitution doesnāt say that you can āsend them back to the states,ā or that you can āreject votes.ā
āI mean look, thereās almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could pick the American president,ā Pence told the crowd.
Pence, who has received criticism from Trump supporters for opting to not reject the election results of the 2020 presidential election, said during an interview on CBSās āFace the Nationā that Trumpās lawyers had asked him to reject the votes.
