Mike Pence says 'Trump is wrong': 'I had no right to overturn the election'

Former Vice President Mike Pence on Friday rebuked assertions made by former President Donald Trump late last week, in which he alleged Pence had the power to overturn the results of the 2020 election, The New York Times reports.

"President Trump is wrong," Pence said while speaking before conservative legal organization the Federalist Society. "I had no right to overturn the election."

"The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone," he added. "And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president."

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In a statement released Sunday concerning the recent congressional push to reform the Electoral Count Act, Trump falsely claimed Pence could have overturned the 2020 race during the Jan. 6 electoral certification; then, on Tuesday, the former president issued another statement, this one urging the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot to turn their attention toward Pence and focus on why he "did not send back the votes for recertification or approval."

Pence's Friday speech, however, served as his "strongest rejection" yet of both Trump and his election fraud claims, CNBC notes. The former vice president also characterized the Jan. 6 riot as "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol," a break from language used by other members of the GOP. For example, one Republican lawmaker infamously likened Capitol rioters to tourists visiting Washington, D.C.

Also on Friday, the Republican National Committee voted to formally censure Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) for their work on the House Jan. 6 committee.