Capitol Riot

Trump Supporters: ‘Hang Mike Pence'

Trump refused to call off the mob, according to the committee

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Republican Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, said former President Donald Trump refused to call off his supporters, even when they began chanting, "Hang Mike Pence."

"Maybe our supporters have the right idea," Trump said, according to Cheney. "Mike Pence deserves it."

For hours Trump, in the White House, blocks from the U.S. Capitol, declined to tell the rioters to stand down. He believed that his supporters were doing what should be done, Cheney said.

Trump put unrelenting pressure on Pence to take over the counting of the Electoral College votes by Congress, a ceremonial role.

During the opening night of the House committee hearings on the U.S. Capitol Riot, congressional chairs Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., laid out a damning indictment of former President Donald Trump with testimony from former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, Ivanka Trump and a U.S. Capitol police officer.

Pence in a video was seen saying Trump was wrong when he said that Pence could overturn the election. He said there was no idea more un-American than the notion that one person could choose the president of the United States.

Cheney added it would also be illegal.


For more on the hearing, follow our live blog.

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