While campaigning in Iowa, Mike Pence was confronted by a voter who asked him about his decision on January 6, 2021, to reject a desperate effort by the Trump team to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a calm and respectful — yet forceful — way, Pence explained the state of play on January 6 and the fact that he did not have the constitutional power to send back certified electoral votes to the states, as Trump and his supporters were demanding.

.@Mike_Pence is confronted by an Iowa voter on his handling of the Electoral College count on January 6th. "I'm sorry ma'am, but that's actually what the Constitution says. No Vice President in American history ever asserted the authority that you have been convinced that I had." pic.twitter.com/u9rR19ZjEf

— CSPAN (@cspan) July 6, 2023

[It is an excellent answer, and kudos to Pence for not backing down an inch on this issue. It is a Sisyphean task to keep explaining what was crystal clear on 1/6/2020 just as it has been in every presidential election, and as Pence says, the constant obsession with the nonsense legal theories espoused about the VP’s role only makes it harder for Republicans to win. Perhaps this is the one reason that a Pence candidacy makes sense — not for the nomination, but for a national tour of Republican events to forcefully rebut the crackpot theories in Stop the Steal. — Ed]