Trump called Pence a “wimp” during “heated” phone call hours before Jan. 6 attack [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former President Donald Trump had a phone call with then-Vice President Mike Pence hours before the Jan. 6 attack.
• A Trump aide told the Jan. 6 House committee that the then-president called Pence a “wimp” and “the P-word.”
• Ivanka Trump described the phone conversation as “heated.”

Former President Donald Trump called his vice president, Mike Pence, a “wimp” during a phone call hours before the Capitol riot, according to a former White House assistant.

Nicholas Luna told the House Jan. 6 select committee that he heard Trump say the word “wimp” during the call.

“As I was dropping off the note, my memory, I remember hearing the word ‘wimp,’ either he called him a wimp, I don’t remember if he said you are a wimp, you’ll be a wimp, wimp is the word I remember,” Luna testified.

Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, described the phone conversation between the two men as “heated.” 

The testimonies were released during the third public hearing on the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Thursday’s hearing focused on Trump pressing his then-vice president to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

The House panel also presented photos of Trump while on the call in the Oval Office. The never-before-seen photos were obtained from the National Archives.

Ivanka Trump, said, “the conversation was pretty heated.” The former White House senior adviser was in the Oval Office during the call. She previously testified to the committee and a clip of her testimony was presented by the panel during the third hearing.

“‘It was a different tone than I heard him take with the vice president before,” Ivanka added.

Eric Herschmann, a former White House counsel, said the phone conversation “started off as a calmer tone,” but “then became heated.”

Pence’s national security adviser, Gen. Keith Kellogg, told the committee that Trump told the vice president “you’re not tough enough to make the call.”

Ivanka Trump’s former chief of staff, Julie Radford, said he heard the former president call Pence “the p-word.”

Pence’s senior counsel, Greg Jacob, also testified before the select committee on Thursday, stating Pence was “steely, determined, grim” when he returned to his staff after the phone call.

Source: The Hill