"Trump is wrong": Mike Pence rejects having the ability to "reverse the election" of 2020

By Dareh GregorianNBC

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday rejected former President Donald Trump's claim that he could have reversed or annulled the results of the 2020 election, saying: "The presidency belongs to the American people and the American people alone."

Pence's remarks were part of a speech he was giving to the Federalist Society in Orlando.

This time, unlike before, he didn't resist calling his old boss by name.

Former United States Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the National Press Club on November 30, 2021 in Washington, DC.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

"I heard this week that President Trump said he had the right to nullify the election.

," Pence said.

Trump had publicly and privately urged Pence to take advantage of his constitutional position of oversight of the Electoral College vote count on Capitol Hill—on January 6—to prevent Joe Biden's victory from being officially certified, and reject the votes. of the states or return them in some way for reconsideration.

Pence refused

, saying he didn't think he had the authority to do so.

[A Trump lawyer blamed Vice President Mike Pence for the assault on Capitol Hill]

The process was interrupted when a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol in an attempt to thwart the certification.

Some even chanted to kill Pence.

Trump

for not trying to block the certification of the presidential vote.

In a statement released Sunday, Trump pointed to recent efforts in Congress to strengthen the Electoral Recount Act as evidence that Pence may have acted unilaterally.