Donald Trump defended his supporters' decision to chant "Hang Mike Pence" during the Capitol riot on January 6th in a newly published interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, which was conducted back in March.
The interaction began with Trump being asked whether he feared for Pence's safety on the day of the riot.
He answered: “No, I thought he was well-protected and I had heard that he was in good shape. No, because, uh, I had heard he was in very good shape.”
“Well, the people were very angry,” he continued.
"They were saying 'Hang Mike Pence,'" Karl interjected.
"Because it's common sense, Jon," Trump said. "It's common sense that you're supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that? And I'm telling you: 50/50, it's right down the middle for the top constitutional scholars when I speak to them. Anybody I spoke to — almost all of them at least pretty much agree, and some very much agree with me — because he's passing on a vote that he knows is fraudulent. How can you pass a vote that you know is fraudulent? Now, when I spoke to him, I really talked about all of the fraudulent things that happened during the election. I didn't talk about the main point, which is the legislatures did not approve — five states. The legislatures did not approve all of those changes that made the difference between a very easy win for me in the states, or a loss that was very close, because the losses were all very close."
Both Trump and Pence are expected to run against each other in the GOP primary in 2024; however, neither have confirmed their plans.
More from the interview will air on ABC, Sunday.
[Via]