Pence Lays Into Trump: ‘History Will Hold Donald Trump Accountable For Jan. 6’

Former Vice President Mike Pence attacked his old boss, Donald Trump, over the weekend in what is perhaps his most scathing public words against the former president so far.

“History will hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6,” said Pence to an audience of journalists. “Make no mistake about it: What happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way. President Trump was wrong. His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day.”

Pence made his remarks at this weekend’s Gridiron Dinner, an annual white-tie event in Washington D.C. hosted by the Gridiron Club where politicians from both political parties speak to a roomful of the nation’s most prestigious journalists. The speeches are expected to be self-deprecating and comedic.

Like the White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner, the event is frequently criticized for encouraging journalists and politicians to mingle and develop relationships that could lead to conflicts of interest in their reporting.

Pence has made similar comments in his 2022 book, So Help Me God, but his decision to openly clarify his January 6 position in a highly publicized speech is further evidence that the former Vice President is eyeing a potential 2024 presidential race.

Pence also took the opportunity during his Gridiron speech to make homophobic comments about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, saying that the Biden administration official “is the only person in human history to have a child, and everybody else gets post-partum depression.” The dig is a reference to Buttigieg’s decision to take paternity leave during heightened levels of travel problems in America.

“The former vice president’s homophobic joke about Secretary Buttigieg was offensive and inappropriate, all the more so because he treated women suffering from postpartum depression as a punchline,” said White House Press Secretary Karine-Jean Pierre.

Pence, who continues to signal his intentions to run against Trump in the Republican primary, will be campaigning in New Hampshire on Thursday and Iowa on Saturday. The former Vice President appears to be attempting to secure his hold on the Republican Party’s evangelical base, which led Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) and Sen Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to early primary wins in the Iowa caucuses in 2008 and 20016 respectively.