Former Vice President Mike Pence said that he was proud to certify the election for Joe Biden during a speech at the Reagan Library on Thursday.
Pence also asserted that he did not have the authority to reject or return electoral votes.
“Now there are those in our party who believe that in my position as presiding officer over the joint session that I possess the authority to reject or return electoral votes certified by the states,” Pence said. “The Constitution provides the vice president with no such authority before the joint session of Congress.”
Former President Donald Trump had called for him to reject the votes in certain states that were still finding anomalies.
“And the truth is, there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president,” Pence said. “And I will always be proud that we did our part on that tragic day to reconvene the Congress and fulfilled our duty under the Constitution.”
Pence was recently heckled by Trump supporters while speaking at a conservative conference.
A new book also alleges that he had praised a Trump aide that unloaded on the then-president over his response to Charlottesville.
The author continued on to write, “Cohn told Trump that his lack of clarity had been harmful to the country and that he’d put an incredible amount of pressure on people working in the White House. He told Trump that he might have to quit. No one backed Cohn up. Others in the room, including Pence, remained quiet.”
“Cohn returned to his office after the meeting broke up. Following a few minutes behind, Pence climbed the flight of stairs and appeared at the threshold of Cohn’s door,” the book claims. “‘I’m proud of you,’ Pence told him, safely out of earshot of the president.”