Desperate to cling to power, Trump turned what is normally a drama-free joint session of Congress to ratify the election results into a loyalty test for Pence. The gambit had catastrophic results, not just for the relationship between the president and vice president but also for the peaceful transition of power.
Donald Trump’s relationship with his most loyal lieutenant, Mike Pence, splintered on Wednesday after the vice president defied the president’s call to overturn his loss in the November election.
Trump attacked Pence on Twitter after the vice president announced he lacked the power to throw out Electoral College votes cast for President-elect Joe Biden. Pence, the president tweeted, “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”
