Former Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that he and former President Donald Trump have a 'strong relationship' and have 'talked through' the events at the end of the Trump administration – when Pence oversaw the count that made Joe Biden president.
Pence made the comments in a prime-time interview Monday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who broached the fraught topic of the Capitol riot and the split it exposed between Trump and Pence, who are each potential 2024 presidential candidates.
'Look, you can't spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,' Pence told Hannity, who vouched repeatedly for Trump's stewardship while the two were in office.
Hannity put the question to him by saying: 'I know a lot has been made over the disagreement you had with the president as it relates to Jan. 6.' The host told him his own sources and understanding were that 'you two have a strong relationship to this day. What is your relationship with the president?'
'I can tell you that we parted amicably at the end of the administration and we have talked a number of times since we both left office.'
'But I believe that our entire focus today should be on the future,' Pence continued, saying he would back GOP candidates for governor and Congress.
Then he took a shot at the media and saluted the MAGA agenda.
'I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January. They want to use that one day to try and demean the – the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believe we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020.
Former Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News that he and former President Donald Trump have a 'strong relationship' and that the two 'talked through' Jan. 6th
Neither man explicitly described the heart of the rupture with Trump: Pence's refusal to go along with Trump's demand that he find a way to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's election.
Pence appeared to acknowledge a split, using delicate language, but indicated it was patched up.
The former House GOP leader called Jan. 6th a 'tragic day in the history of our Capitol building.'
'But thanks to the efforts of Capitol Hill police, federal officials, the Capitol was secured. We finished our work. And the president and I sat down a few days later and talked through all of it,' Pence said.
'You can't spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,' said Pence
'But thanks to the efforts of Capitol Hill police, federal officials, the Capitol was secured,' Pence said of the Jan. 6th riot
After speaking about his relationship with Trump, Pence said 'the media wants to distract from the Biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in January'
'I truly believe we all ought to remain completely focused on the future. That's where I'm focused,' Pence said.
Trump repeatedly called the election fraudulent up to and including on Jan. 6th, when Congress met to count the electoral votes.
He demanded Pence take action to stop or slow certification, tweeting Jan. 6th: 'States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval. All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!'
In his own Jan. 6th letter, Pence rejected the analysis, writing of his own 'largely ceremonial role.'
'It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,' Pence wrote.
MAGA rioters breached the Capitol as Congress met to count the votes that day. Secret Service agents had to rush Pence and family members to safety. Protesters outside had constructed a scaffold, and some chanted 'Hang Mike Pence!'
Lawyer John Eastman, who was advising Trump during the last days of his administration, told DailyMail.com last month about a Jan. 4th White House meeting, where he says Pence 'wanted to look at' an idea that Trump liked about adjourning a joint meeting of Congress after lawmakers gathered to count the electoral votes submitted by states.
'He asked me point blank: do you think I have that authority,' Eastman said, describing a scenario where Pence would act on his own authority to refuse to accept ballots.
'And I told him point blank, it's an open question, but even if you had, it would be foolish to exercise it, absent legislatures certifying the alternate slate of electors.' Eastman instead ended up urging Pence adjourn the count to allow states more time to send 'alternative' sets of electors.
A person close to Pence told the New York Times that Pence Turned to Trump and said: 'Did you hear that, Mr. President?'
However Eastman told DailyMail.com Pence did not use a skeptical tone when he asked Trump about whether he had the authority.
In the interview, Pence also blasted the Biden administration for 'weakness,' and took on Biden's contention that the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan had its roots in the Trump administration's treaty with the Taliban that brought down US troop levels to 2,500.
'We went 18 months without a single American casualty in Afghanistan,' said Pence.
'But weakness arouses evil, Sean. And there's no question that the weakness evidenced by the Biden administration, I would say beginning when they were silent when thousands of rockets were rained down on our cherished ally Israel from Hamas, sent a signal into Afghanistan that we would not respond,' he said.
'And you saw ... the Taliban march into Mazar-i- Sharif and then just simply – simply walk into Kabul. And I just -- I really want people to know that I believe with all my heart that this never had to happen,' he said.
Pence also spoke to his relationship with Trump last month, telling the 'Ruthless' podcast he and the former president have spoken 'about a dozen times' since they left office.
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