President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met Monday in the Oval Office for the first time since last week’s protest at the U.S. Capitol that got out of hand, resulting in some protesters violently storming the building — Pence was inside at the time overseeing the certification of the Electoral College vote.
The meeting featured a discussion of the final days of their administration and its accomplishments, according to Fox News’ chief White House correspondent John Roberts, who cited an administration official with knowledge of the meeting.
In addition to pledging to continue to work on behalf of Americans until Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20, Trump and Pence were reportedly critical of protesters who breached the Capitol riots, Fox News reported.
This is the first time the two have met since Trump publicly criticized Pence on his now-suspended Twitter account, saying the vice president “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done” — the president wanted Pence to reject electoral votes from swing states marred by allegations of corruption, effectively blocking Biden’s confirmation.
President Trump and @VP Mike Pence met for the first time today since they last spoke last Wednesday morning. Readout from a Senior Administration official: pic.twitter.com/YI5f25oM1M
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) January 11, 2021
“I do not believe the founders of our country intended to invest the vice president with unilateral authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted during the joint session of Congress, and no vice president in American history has ever asserted such authority,” Pence said in a statement last week.
The discussion comes after CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins said on Friday they were not speaking — she claimed their relationship had hit “its lowest point ever” after Trump failed to check on the vice president’s safety last week while he was trapped in the Capitol.
The anti-Trump network reported the mob was “literally talking about killing [Pence]. And in a horribly gruesome way.”
News of the meeting comes as Trump reportedly acknowledged that he bears some blame for the storming of the Capitol, Fox News reported. A Capitol Police officer died from injuries sustained during the siege and an unarmed female Trump supporter was shot and killed inside — three others died from medical emergencies.
The source of the information is anonymous, which casts a shadow over a claim that would be inconsistent with Trump’s reluctance to accept blame for events he doesn’t feel he was responsible for.
Trump spoke at a rally before protesters marched on the Capitol — here is a transcript of his remarks on that effort:
I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.
We’re going to walk down. Anyone you want, but I think right here, we’re going to walk down to the Capitol — and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.
Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.
We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated. Lawfully slated.
I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.
The report of the president accepting blame reportedly came during a conversation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The Republican leader from California relayed Trump’s sentiment on a call Monday with the House GOP Conference, Fox News reported, citing two anonymous sources.
McCarthy reportedly agreed on the call that Trump bore some blame for the unrest.
On Monday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House “will move forward with bringing impeachment legislation to the floor,” according to Fox News.
“The President’s threat to America is urgent, and so too will be our action,” she said, looking to get maximum political value out of the crisis.
Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against the president on Monday, claiming he incited “insurrection.” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer would later say the House would meet at 9 a.m. on Wednesday to consider the article of impeachment.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., suggested Sunday that Democrats may hold the article of impeachment for 100 days to not interfere with confirming Biden’s cabinet picks — sending it to the Senate three months after Trump leaves office.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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