COLUMBUS, Ind. — Republican leaders in Bartholomew County say there have been some “differences of opinion” on former President Donald Trump since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, particularly related to Trump’s “rhetoric” toward Columbus native and former Vice President Mike Pence.
One difference involves Trump’s weeks-long effort to pressure Pence to use powers he did not have to overturn election results in a handful of battleground states the former president lost in the 2020 election, said Bartholomew County Republican Party chair Barb Hackman, who announced this week that she would step down as chair in March.
On Jan. 6, Pence presided over a joint session of Congress to officially tally Electoral College votes and certify President Joe Biden’s victory.
Under normal circumstances, the vote-tallying procedure would have been a mere formality, The Associated Press reported. But after losing court case after court case, and with no further options at hand, Trump and his allies zeroed in on the congressional tally as their last chance to try to challenge the race’s outcome.
In a bizarre interpretation of the law, they argued that the vice president had the unilateral power to reject Electoral College votes supporting President Joe Biden. The Constitution makes clear that only Congress has that power.
Before the riot, Trump took the stage on Jan. 6 in front of thousands of supporters at a rally just south of the White House, falsely telling them, “If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election” before urging the crowd to “fight like hell.”
As Trump spoke, Pence released a letter to Congress stating that a vice president does not have “unilateral authority” to reject states’ electoral votes and later presided over the joint session that would officially certify his and Trump’s defeat.
Not long after that, a violent mob of Trump supporters outside the Capitol overwhelmed police, smashed windows and forced their way inside the building, temporarily halting the electoral proceedings and resulting in five deaths.
Pence, as well as his wife and daughter, were whisked away by security minutes before rioters entered the Senate chamber, many of whom seen on video chanting “Hang Mike Pence” and beating police with pipes and flag poles as they pressed inside the building, according to wire reports.
Trump did not call to check on Pence’s safety during the ordeal, instead tweeting, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
After the insurrection, Pence returned to read the results of the electoral college certification in the early hours of Jan. 7, certifying Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as the winners of the election.
Allies of Pence say it was an upsetting ordeal that put the vice president’s life in danger after years of unwavering loyalty to the president.
But Pence’s decision to defy the president also alienated some Trump supporters.
Hackman said while there are “strong Trump supporters” in Bartholomew County, “there could be a lot of hurt” among some local Republicans, especially because Pence is from Columbus.
“All the support and loyalty that Mike showed the president and then for him to do that has really upset a lot of local Republicans,” Hackman said. “And there have been some local Republicans that are upset that Mike didn’t go along with what Trump was wanting him to do. So there might be some differences of opinion, but it will not cause any rift, I don’t believe, going forward with the Republican Party.”
For the complete story, see Sunday’s Republic.
