Former President Donald Trump accused his former Vice President Mike Pence of succumbing to “the dark side” on Saturday.
Trump made the comment in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying Pence is “delusional” for challenging him in the 2024 presidential primary. Pence and Trump have exchanged more insults than usual thanks to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s indictment against Trump last week.
“WOW, it’s finally happened! Liddle’ Mike Pence, a man who was about to be ousted as Governor Indiana until I came along and made him V.P., has gone to the Dark Side,” Trump wrote.
“I never told a newly emboldened (not based on his 2% poll numbers!) Pence to put me above the Constitution, or that Mike was ‘too honest.’ He’s delusional, and now he wants to show he’s a tough guy. I once read a major magazine article on Mike. It said he was not a very good person. I was surprised, but the article was right. Sad!” he added.
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Trump’s post came just days after Smith included Pence’s personal notes from days surrounding January 6 as evidence in his indictment against Trump.
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The notes recounted several conversations the pair had in the days leading up to the event, including a New Year’s Day exchange which Pence wrote about in his memoir. Pence said Trump discussed a lawsuit filed by Republicans that asked a judge to declare the vice president had “exclusive authority and sole discretion to decide which electoral votes should count.” Pence said he reiterated to Trump “that I didn’t believe I possessed that power under the Constitution.”
“You’re too honest,” Trump replied, according to both Pence’s book and the indictment. “Hundreds of thousands are gonna hate your guts.… People are gonna think you’re stupid.”
Pence lashed out at Trump after Smith handed down the indictment last week, saying that “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”
