SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A voter confronted former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, accusing him of unfairly handing the election to Joe Biden.
“Did you ever guess? It was a constitutional right that you had to send those votes to the states,” the woman said as Pence took questions at a packed Pizza Ranch restaurant here. He said Pence “changed history” by refusing to send the 2020 election results to the states for a recount.
Pence certified the election results despite pressure from President Donald Trump and threats from his supporters. He refused to accept Trump’s conspiracy theories that Biden and the Democratic Party stole the election.
Pence has leaned in on his refusal to bend to what Trump wanted that day, setting it up as a key point of contrast. He launched his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination last month with criticism of his former boss, saying Trump abandoned his conservative principles and loyalty to the Constitution.
While Pence is able to carve out a distinctive lane for himself with this approach, he also risks alienating a significant portion of the GOP base that is still loyal to Trump.
Pence said Wednesday that certifying the election was “an issue that continues to be misunderstood,” saying the Constitution “gives no authority to the vice president or anyone to reject votes or return votes to the states.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s what the Constitution says,” Pence told the Pizza Ranch woman. “No vice president in American history has ever asserted the authority that you are convinced I had. But I want to tell you, with all due respect… President Trump got my authority wrong that day, and it’s still wrong.”
Afterward, Pence told NBC News that he “welcomed the opportunity” to discuss why Trump’s message about certifying the election is inaccurate.
“If I have the great privilege of being president of the United States, they can also count on me to uphold my oath to the Constitution,” he said.
Pence remains significantly behind in the polls in the race, with the most recent NBC News poll showing Trump with a significant lead. He was in Sioux City Wednesday as part of a three-day stretch through Iowa that began with a Fourth of July parade in Urbandale. All three events held Wednesday were joined by Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, who represents the western part of the state.
Pence kicked off his presidential campaign in Iowa, whose caucuses are at the top of the GOP presidential primary schedule. The state’s active conservative evangelical community is a natural focus for Pence, who was governor and a congressman from nearby Indiana and has championed conservative positions on social issues throughout his career.
