Former Vice President Mike Pence faces backlash for calling the Capitol riot "just another day in January."
The incident took place on Jan. 6 after Donald Trump's supporters flocked to the Capitol to prevent the Senate from declaring Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.
According to CNN, there's no reason for Pence ever to forget the events that transpired on Jan. 6, 2020, because he was at the Capitol back then.
At the time, several protesters also chanted "hang Mike Pence," resulting in the Secret Service hiding him and his entire family to ensure that they would not be in danger.
Pence was forced to turn his back on Trump when he declared his opponent as the winner even though the then-POTUS wanted him to say that the result of the election was rigged.
So, when the former vice president called the Capitol riot just another day in January, he faced a slew of criticisms online.
Mike Pence slams Joe Biden's administration during an interview
"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 to demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020," Pence said in an interview with FOX News via Youtube.
Pence also told interviewer Sean Hannity that he doesn't have ill feelings towards Trump. He also stressed that he managed to build a strong bond with Trump because they were always together for five years.
The former vice president also said that following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, he and Trump talked to each other. And they parted ways amicably.
On Twitter, several Pence critics slammed the former vice president. Some of them called the former vice president a Jan. 6 accomplice. Others said that Pence should be dragged in front of the Jan. 6 committee and asked about every conversation he had with Trump.
Mike Pence is a Jan 6 accomplice. I have zero sympathy for him. He was in on it.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 5, 2021
Other critics also questioned Pence's loyalty to Trump when the latter didn't protect him when rioters wanted to hang him during the Capitol riot.
Will Mike Pence run for president in the 2024 election?
There are also predictions that Pence would run for president in the 2024 election.
According to Yahoo! News, his recent statement about focusing on the future must have been a nod to his presidential aspirations.
However, Trump reportedly has plans to run for office in 2024, and it's unlikely for Republicans to choose Pence to challenge the ex-POTUS in the primary.
Trump is still considered as the GOP Alpha, and he has also been threatening his Republican opponents to stay out of the 2024 election.
He previously said that he would beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just like how he beat everyone else. He also encouraged those that want to campaign against him just to drop up, Trump told Yahoo! Finance.
