Former Vice President Mike Pence said that he hoped President-elect Donald Trump does not pardon the Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police at the U.S. Capitol after the 2020 election.

'By God's grace, we did our duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.'

Pence made the comments while a guest speaker at the Dispatch’s Summit 2024 on Tuesday.

"I don't think the president should pardon anyone who assaulted a police officer at the United States Capitol on January 6," said Pence, according to social media reports from The Dispatch X account.

"Karen and I are literally praying that President-Elect Trump and Vice President-Elect Vance will stand on the commitments that they will make when they raise their right hands on that day," he added. "And with God's grace and the support of the American people, I believe they will."

Pence also praised Trump over reports about appointments to his administration.

"They reflect a caliber of competence and experience, particularly in the realm of national security, that gives me great confidence that that will continue to stay the course and embrace our role as leader of the free world," he said.

In the 46 months since the rioting at the Capitol, the Justice Department says 1,561 people have been criminally charged in federal court, and about 590 were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers. 18 were charged with seditious conspiracy, 88 were charged with destruction of government property, and 67 were charged with theft of government property.

Trump has said that he would free the "hostages being wrongfully imprisoned" but later clarified that to mean only the "innocent" ones and admitted that others got "out of control."

When asked about his actions on that day, Pence was very clear in his response.

"At the end of the day, I'll always believe that, by God's grace, we did our duty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America," said Pence.

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