United States President-elect Donald Trump shook hands on Thursday with his former Vice President, Mike Pence, at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter in Washington.
This incident is the first public interaction between the two men since they departed office in 2021.
Media Talk Africa recalls that the relationship between Trump and Pence has been strained since the final days of their administration.
Trump and some of his allies were alleged to have tried to convince Pence he had the jurisdiction to overturn the election of President Joe Biden. However, Pence disagreed.
Subsequently, Trump said: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
In 2023, during Washington’s annual Gridiron dinner, Pence criticized Trump’s role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“President Trump was wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable,” Pence said.
“Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way.”
Trump chose JD Vance as his running mate during his 2024 presidential campaign.
