Trump hasn't spoken to Pence since Capitol siege, not even condemned rioters who called for VP's execution
A crack has formed in the relationship between President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that shows no signs of healing. The POTUS has not spoken to Pence since the Wednesday, January 6, incursion at the US Capitol that left five people dead, even as the vice president is facing mounting pressure of invoking the 25th amendment that would effectively remove Trump from office with just under two weeks remaining in his presidency.
According to CNN, a source said that Pence has finally "gotten a glimpse of POTUS's vindictiveness." More sources added that while Trump was angry at Pence after putting him in an impossible position by asking him to overturn the election results that favored President-elect Joe Biden during Wednesday's joint session of Congress and his subsequent refusal to do so, Pence was disappointed and saddened by Trump as the world witnessed his boss incite a mob full of his supporters to march to the Capitol that ultimately ended in the siege of the federal building.
Trump has even used Pence's name during his speech just minutes before the mob stormed the Capitol. "Mike Pence, I hope you're gonna stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country, and if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you, I will tell you right now. I'm not hearing good stories," he told his supporters. This was following Pence's admission to the president that he could not alter the results of the 2020 presidential race and sent a letter to members of Congress that he would follow the Constitution.
A source told Fox News that while Pence was sheltering in "hardened rooms" in the Capitol when the mob attacked, Trump did not reach out to him to check on his status or condemn those who said the vice president "should be executed." Trump not only failed to check in on Pence, the former also has also not made any public comments denouncing death threats that have been posted on social media targeting Pence.
One of the people who has made such threats is pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood, which is currently being investigated by the Secret Service, according to Fox News. Wood is suspected of writing a now-deleted post on Parler, the new virtual space for conservatives to hangout, which said, "Get the firing squads ready. Pence goes FIRST." He was banned from Twitter last week. "We are aware of the comments and take all threats against our protectees seriously," a Secret Service spokesman told Fox News on Saturday.
The Secret Service is also looking into other people in a video shot inside the Capitol building where they yelled, "Hang Pence." Also the hashtag "Hang Mike Pence" was trending on Twitter. A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News on Saturday that the company had "blocked the phrase and other variations of it from trending."
Meanwhile, CNN learned that Pence has not ruled out an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment and it could become an option in case Trump becomes more unstable. However, there is some concern inside Pence's team when it comes to invoking the 25th Amendment or even to an impeachment process as it could lead Trump to take some rash decisions that could put national security at risk.