Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Wednesday he is “skeptical” that former Vice President Mike Pence’s life was endangered during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Vance on “The Source” whether the Ohio Republican had “any pause” about former President Trump potentially considering him to be his running mate due to how Trump treated Pence. Vance replied by pivoting to his concerns about President Biden before Collins repeated her question.
Collins said Biden did not approve “of the chance to hang his vice president and didn’t not call his vice president when their life was in danger on Capitol Hill” when asking again if Vance had any “pause” on potentially being Trump’s vice president. Vance noted earlier that he has not spoken to Trump about the possibility of being his running mate.
“OK, well, I’m truly skeptical that Mike Pence’s life was ever in danger. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time,” Vance replied.
Collins interjected, saying she thinks “Mike Pence would disagree” before Vance continued.
“And a lot of folks the Democratic Party, Kaitlan, act as if January the 6th was the scariest moment of their lives,” Vance continued. “I think — look, Jan. 6 was a bad day. It was a riot. But the idea that Donald Trump endangered anyone’s lives when he told them to protest peacefully, it’s just absurd.”
Collins then noted that some of the rioters were chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” The vice president was in the Capitol that day to oversee the certification of the 2020 election when a mob stormed the building.
“Well, Kaitlan, did a few people say some bad things? Sure. But do we blame Donald Trump for every bad thing that’s ever been said by a participant in American democracy? I think that’s an absurd standard,” Vance replied.
Secret Service confirmed in 2022 that Pence was taken to an underground loading dock on Jan. 6, where he waited with his wife and daughter for around five hours. The former vice president described in his book how he was angry but not afraid when rioters got into the Capitol.
Pence has denounced Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 and has defended his own decision to certify the 2020 election results. The former vice president launched a long-shot bid for the White House last year but dropped out in October.