Jon Karl Incredulous as Pence Dismisses Concerns About Jan. 6-Style Chaos if Trump is Arrested: He’s Telling People to ‘Take Our Nation Back!’

ABC News’ Jon Karl put former Vice President Mike Pence under intense questioning over the possibility that his former boss is once again inciting his supporters to create chaos.

Karl interviewed Pence in Iowa, kicking things off with former President Donald Trump’s angry calls for “protest” over the apparent likelihood he is about to be indicted over the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal. Pence was asked if Trump’s calls for protest are “irresponsible.” The former veep doubled down by denouncing the prospect of Trump’s arrest as a “politically charged prosecution.”

“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former President of the United States at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City,” said Pence. “The fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think it just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country.”

Karl pushed back — clearly referring to the fact that the last time Trump called for mass protests against America’s institutions, it led to the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol.

“He’s calling on people to protest. To come out and protest, take our nation back!” Karl said. “We know what happened the last time he said that.”

“Well, Jon, the American people have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble,” Pence said.

“Absolutely,” Karl conceded. “But to have a former president calling on people to protest a justice proceeding?”

Pence’s response:

The frustration the American people feel about what they sense is a two-tiered justice system in this country, I think is well-founded…I believe that people understand that if they give voice to this — if this occurs on Tuesday — that they need to do so peacefully and in a lawful manner. That the violence that occurred on January 6th, the violence that occurred in cities throughout this country in the summer of 2020 was a disgrace. The American people won’t tolerate it, and those that engage in that kind of violence should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Watch above via This Week from ABC News.

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