A new book reveals handwritten notes from former Vice President Mike Pence detailing a heated phone conversation with President Donald Trump just one hour before the January 6, 2021 events at the Capitol.
The revelation comes from Jonathan Karl’s upcoming book “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America,” which exposes internal conflicts within Trump’s administration.
The book includes Pence’s personal notes from that historic day.
Trump made one final attempt to persuade Pence not to certify the 2020 Presidential Election results in favor of Joe Biden, according to the never-before-seen notes.
When Pence refused, Trump allegedly delivered a stinging rebuke.
“You’ll go down as a wimp,” Trump reportedly told his vice president.
“If you do that, I made a big mistake five years ago.”
The phone call took place approximately one hour before Trump addressed supporters at the Save America rally.
Two hours and 15 minutes after his speech concluded, supporters began entering the Capitol building.
During his rally speech, Trump told the crowd: “I know that everyone over here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard. Today, we will see whether Republicans stand strong for integrity of our elections.”
Pence’s notes indicate that Trump expressed frustration with the vice president’s advisors.
The notes include a drawing of an angry-faced emoji to represent Trump’s displeasure.
“You listen to the wrong people. You’re not protecting our country, you’re supposed to support + defend our country,” Trump said, according to Pence’s written account.
The notes show Pence responded by invoking their constitutional duties.
“I said we both [took] an oath to support + defend the Constitution. It doesn’t take courage to break the law. It takes courage to uphold the law,” Pence told Trump.
The Daily Mail reported that Pence had previously mentioned this conversation in his memoir “So Help Me God,” placing the call at around 11am when Trump was scheduled to speak.
The House January 6 committee also released testimony in 2022 from a White House official claiming Trump called Pence a “wimp.”
Trump denied making the statement at a gathering of religious conservatives in Nashville when the story first emerged.
“I never called him a wimp. Mike Pence had a chance to be great,” Trump said.
“He had a chance to be frankly historic.”
“But just like Bill Barr and the rest of these weak people, Mike – and I say it sadly because I liked them – but Mike did not have the courage to act,” Trump continued.
Trump added: “Mike was afraid of whatever he was afraid of. But as you heard a year and a half ago, Mike Pence had absolutely no choice but to be a human conveyor belt, even if the votes were fraudulent.”
“They said he had to send the votes, couldn’t do anything.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith had intended to use Pence’s notes as evidence to demonstrate Trump misled his supporters in an attempt to overturn the election. However, Smith’s cases against Trump were dismissed following the president’s 2024 election victory.
Trump has continued to maintain his position that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
Thousands of people gathered at the Save America rally to demand that Pence and Congress reject Biden’s victory.
At the Ellipse near the White House, Trump told the crowd: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
After Trump’s speech, hundreds of supporters entered the Capitol building.
