Mike Pence showed up at the first day of the Iowa State Fair today in Des Moines, Iowa, and during his appearance took questions from audience members. One such person asked “My question is this: Why did you commit treason on Jan. 6?”
Per the Des Moines Register:
Pence called it a fair question and said he was happy to answer.
"Look, come on, people, that’s why I came," he said. "No, I got it. I’ll answer your question."
He responded that he followed the U.S. Constitution, recalling his oath of office as vice president and urging the questioner to "read Article II of the Constitution."
"There’s almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could pick the American president," Pence said. "The American presidency belongs to the American people."
As he has before, Pence distanced himself from Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump was indicted this month on four counts of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election.
"People deserve to know that on that day, the former president asked me to choose him over my oath to the Constitution," Pence said. "I chose the Constitution, and I always will."
Interestingly, the questioner, David Steltzer, is a Democrat and Biden supporter from Colorado who says he does not actually believe that Pence “committed treason” on January 6th.
"Heck no, I don’t believe he did," Stelzer said.
He said he asked the question because he wanted Pence to face the issue head-on.
"That’s the elephant in this campaign," Stelzer said. "And lately he’s been very good, but he’s partly responsible for why 70% of Republicans do not believe the election was fair."
He said Pence "allowed this cancer in the Republican Party to metastasize" by not speaking out forcefully enough about what happened right after Jan. 6.
"I can respect him for coming out now," he said. "But I’ve got to be honest with Mr. Pence: he’s too late. The Republican base does not want him."