Mike Pence says Founding Fathers convinced him not to buy into Trump's Big Lie

Former vice president cites the bible and US Constitution as reasons for refusing to flip results

Mike Pence has said the Founding Fathers convinced him against Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” and an attempt to flip the 2020 election in the former US president’s favour.

The former vice president told students at the University of Iowa that it has been James Madison — the so-called “father of the Constitution” — who convinced him not to buy into the “Big Lie”.

“Everything you’ve recited relative to me is false,” Mr Pence told students at the Young America’s Foundation event on Monday, one of whom had asked about his role in allegedly plotting against Mr Biden.

“The Constitution is very clear that elections are to be governed at the state level,” Mr Pence said. “The Founders actually made that decision at the Constitutional Convention.”

“The only role of the federal government was to open and count the electoral votes that were sent by the states,” Mr Pence told told the crowd — ignoring the fact that the “Big Lie” was founded on mistruths about a rigged election.

Mr Pence also cited Psalm 15, which “says he who keeps his oath even when it hurts”, as a reason for not following a Trump-backed plan to cast aside electoral college votes for Joe Biden.

That plan, which was written by Trump attorney John Eastman, asked Mr Pence to throw away electoral college votes and to cast aside Mr Biden’s win “without permission”, The Washington Post reported in September.

Mr Pence went on to declare Mr Biden the rightful winner of the 2020 election — hours after a pro-Trump mob assaulted the US Capitol Building with demands for him to do the opposite.

He was also rushed to safety, as Mr Trump sent tweets disparaging his own vice president’s refusal to flip the electoral results in his favour.

Mr Pence added at the University of Iowa: “I understand the disappointment in the election. You might remember I was on the ballot. But you’ve got to be willing to do your duty.”

The former vice president, who has been tipped as a potential 2024 Republican candidate if Mr Trump fails to mount a bid, has since spoken more defensively about his administration’s record, and of the former president.