Did Donald Trump Really Have These Severe Words For Mike Pence About The 2020 Election?

Few of us are likely to forget January 6, the day rioters stormed the Capitol, with emotions running high following the 2020 election results. And until recently, then-Vice President Mike Pence was seen as the hero of the hour for standing up to Trump and certifying the election results, even as Trump was telling his number two that he could "either go down in history as a patriot, or you can go down in history as a p****" (via Vanity Fair).

As these things turn out, there was more to the story than met the eye, because in a new book, authors and veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa say that in fact, Pence did do his best to keep his job, and one of the things he decided to try was to reach out to George H. W. Bush's vice president — Dan Quayle — for advice about how to handle Trump's requests.

In their new book "Peril," Woodward and Costa say Pence repeatedly asked Quayle if there was anything he could do to swing the election results in Trump's favor, and Quayle responded: "Mike, you have no flexibility on this. None. Zero. Forget it. Put it away." He also warned Pence that not only did he understand where Pence was coming from, but that he must "also know what the law is. You listen to the parliamentarian. That's all you do. You have no power" (via CNN).

The authors say that it was only after that conversation that Pence admits he had "done everything I could and then some to find a way around this. It's simply not possible." But it wasn't enough, and it was then that Trump issued the ultimate threat: "You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore if you don't do this." He later added, "You've betrayed us. I made you. You were nothing" (via The Washington Post).