Trump: Yes, I Heard Those Chants to 'Hang Mike Pence'

Former President Trump is aware that his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were chanting "hang Mike Pence," but he tells Jonathan Karl of ABC News that he wasn't worried about his vice president's safety. "I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape," Trump says in audio of their interview via Axios. Karl, who conducted the interview for his upcoming book Betrayal, presses the former president on the subject, and Trump defends the protesters' anti-Pence wrath. "Well, the people were very angry," he tells Karl. Elaborating, he reiterates his criticism of Pence for signing off on the election results in his official capacity as VP:

• "It's common sense, Jon," says Trump. "It's common sense that you're supposed to protect. How can you—if you know a vote is fraudulent, right?—how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that?" The former president added that he has spoken to "top Constitutional scholars" who agree with him about the vote. More audio from the interview will air Sunday on ABC's This Week.

As the Hill notes, Pence acknowledged in June that he and Trump will likely never agree about the events of Jan. 6. "But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years," he said. (More President Trump stories.)