Pence slams Trump over Jan. 6 attack as he weighs 2024 bid

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence offered his sharpest criticism to date of Donald Trump, holding his former boss responsible for the Capitol insurrection in early 2021 as he teased his own White House ambitions for 2024.

“History will hold Donald Trump accountable” for what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Pence told an audience of several hundred policy makers and journalists on Saturday night in Washington.

Pence recounted before the hushed gathering how his own life was put at risk as Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol while he stood on the Senate floor to help oversee the certification of the 2020 election. He described how he had to hide, at the direction of security, from rioters rampaging through the building.

“President Trump was wrong,” Pence said, recalling that he wasn’t afraid, but “angry.” “His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol.”

The comments marked his biggest public break with Trump since leaving office in January 2021. Pence has been making similar remarks behind closed doors, including to donors, but his camp felt that Saturday night was the right venue for him to say it more broadly, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The former vice president chose a high-profile audience for his attack on Trump. The annual Gridiron Club Dinner — a institution that’s more than a century old — is regarded as a gathering of some of the most influential figures in Washington, from lawmakers to journalists and other public figures.

Trump has already declared a comeback bid for the White House in 2024, and during his speech Saturday, Pence hinted at his own interest in running as well.

“I will wholeheartedly, unreservedly support the Republican nominee for president in 2024... if it’s me,” Pence said, drawing laughter.