In their last call before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, President Donald Trump derided former Vice President Mike Pence as a “wimp” for his refusal to block the certification of the 2020 election results, according to an excerpt from Jonathan Karl’s new book, “Retribution.”
The excerpt, which was published by ABC News on Sunday, cites notes that Pence took of the call, which occurred around 11 a.m. Eastern on Jan. 6, hours prior to Trump’s supporters storming the Capitol and threatening violence against the vice president. It adds to a previous account of the call that Pence also shared in his memoir, “So Help Me God,” published in 2022.
“You’ll go down as a wimp,” Trump reportedly said to Pence regarding his position on the certification. “If you do that, I made a big mistake 5 years ago,” Trump added.
Pence ultimately declined to reject Electoral College votes in his ceremonial role of overseeing Congress’ election certification, and sent lawmakers a letter making his position clear.
While speaking on the Ellipse that day, Trump singled Pence out and called on him to do what he described as “the right thing.” When the vice president declined to acquiesce, Trump later attacked him in a tweet, stating that he “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
As the Trump supporters breached the Capitol following the president’s speech, a number of them focused their fury on Pence, chanting “Hang Mike Pence!”
Pence’s notes on the call, which were scrawled in his day planner, were set to be used as evidence by former special counsel Jack Smith, who previously pursued an indictment against Trump for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Smith later dropped the case prior to Trump taking office, due to a Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
Trump had pleaded “not guilty” in the federal case and claimed that he hadn’t called Pence a “wimp.”
Pence wrote in his notes, “It doesn’t take courage to break the law. It takes courage to uphold the law.”
The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Pence and Trump’s reported conversation is among the exchanges that Karl reports on in his forthcoming book, which is set to be released on Tuesday, Oct. 28. Other excerpts that have been released from the book examine in-fighting among Trump allies over his White House staffing plans and tensions between former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama over the 2024 election.