Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Ivanka Trump recalls father’s final Jan 6 call with Mike Pence: ‘You are a wimp’

‘It was a different tone than I’d heard him take with the vice president before,’ Ivanka says of Trump

Gustaf Kilander
Washington, DC
Thursday 16 June 2022 21:36 BST
Comments
Jan 6 hearings: Ivanka Trump recalls father’s called Pence ‘a wimp’ in final call
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

In a call to then-Vice President Mike Pence on the morning of January 6, then-President Donald Trump said he wasn’t “tough enough” to overturn the election, and called him a “wimp”, according to witness testimony gathered by the House Select Committee investigating the 2021 Capitol attack.

A former counsel to Mr Pence, attorney Greg Jacob, told the committee on Thursday that Mr Pence received the call at the Vice President’s residence on the morning of January 6.

House Panel member Rep. Pete Aguilar, a California Democrat, said that members of the Trump family were present in the Oval Office during the call with Pence, adding that they as well as others spoke to the committee about the conversation.

Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump told the committee in prerecorded testimony that it “wasn’t a specific, formal discussion, it was very loose and casual”.

“The conversation was pretty heated,” Ms Trump added.

Former Trump assistant Nicholas Luna told the committee: “I remember hearing the word ‘wimp’”.

“Either he called him a wimp, I don’t remember, he said ‘you are a wimp, you’ll be a wimp’ – wimp is the word I remember,” Mr Luna added.

General Keith Kellogg, a former national security advisor to Mr Pence, told the panel that Mr Trump told Mr Pence “you’re not tough enough to make the call”.

Ms Trump said, “it was a different tone than I’d heard him take with the vice president before”.

Julie Radford, a former chief of staff to Ms Trump said she told her that “her dad had just had an upsetting conversation with the vice president”.

Ms Radford said Ms Trump said her father called Mr Pence “the P-word”.

Mr Jacob said that when Mr Pence returned to his staff after the call, he appeared “steely, determined, grim”.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in