Yahoo News 
Pence: Media's focus on deadly Jan. 6 riot is meant to 'demean' Trump supporters
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who was a target of vitriol and violent rhetoric during the deadly Jan. 6 riot, dismissed on Monday the media’s continued focus on the attack.
He told Fox News host Sean Hannity that the coverage was designed to “demean” former President Donald Trump’s supporters, whose January rally turned into a mob that stormed the Capitol while Pence was overseeing the certification of Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
“I know the media wants to distract from the Biden administration’s failed agenda by focusing on one day in January,” he said. “They want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million Americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020.”
In an attempt to bolster his baseless assertions that the election was stolen, Trump had falsely claimed that Pence could stop the certification. Some of the Trump supporters who breached the U.S. Capitol could even be heard chanting, “Hang Mike Pence!” The vice president was safely evacuated by the Secret Service before returning hours later to complete the certification of Biden’s win.
Over 600 people are facing charges in connection to the Jan. 6 attack.
The bipartisan House select committee investigating the insurrection issued two rounds of subpoenas last month, including four to key Trump aides (including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former White House adviser Steve Bannon and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino) and nearly a dozen others to individuals who helped organize the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the deadly riot.
“Jan. 6 was a tragic day in the history of our Capitol building,” Pence told Hannity. “But thanks to the efforts of Capitol Hill police, federal officials, the Capitol was secured, we finished our work. And the president and I sat down a few days later and talked through all of it.”
Despite Trump’s public criticism of Pence’s role in the certification, the vice president said the two parted ways “amicably” and “have talked a number of times since we both left office.”
“You can’t spend almost five years in a political foxhole with somebody without developing a strong relationship,” he said.
Trump, who has yet to publicly concede his election defeat, is reportedly considering another presidential bid in 2024.
It’s unclear whether the field of presidential contenders could include Pence, but Trump is said to be considering other potential running mates for his ticket. The former president boasted to Yahoo Finance last week that he would clear the field of GOP rivals if he ran.
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