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WASHINGTON \u2015 Donald Trump posted a tweet attacking his own vice president for lacking \u201cthe courage\u201d to overturn the election for him \u2015 enraging his Jan. 6 mob even further \u2015 just minutes after learning that Mike Pence had been removed from the Senate chamber for his own safety.<\/p>\n
Newly elected Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told reporters Wednesday night, following the second day of the former president\u2019s impeachment trial, that Trump had called for his help in delaying election certification the afternoon of the U.S. Capitol attack but he had told Trump that Pence had just been taken from the Senate and he couldn\u2019t talk just then.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t get a chance to say a whole lot because I said, \u2018Mr. President, they just took the vice president out. I\u2019ve got to go,\u2019\u201d Tuberville said.<\/p>\n
According to video footage from that day, Pence was removed from the Senate at 2:14 p.m. after rioters had broken into the Capitol, meaning that when Trump lashed out at Pence at 2:24 p.m., he already knew Pence\u2019s life was in danger.<\/p>\n
\u201cMike Pence didn\u2019t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution,\u201d Trump wrote in his tweet.<\/p>\n
Videos shown by Democratic House members presenting their impeachment case document that rioters were aware of Trump\u2019s tweet. Some had erected a gallows outside the Capitol. Others roamed the halls, chanting, \u201cHang Mike Pence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exact time Pence was taken from the Senate following the breach of the Capitol by the mob Trump had incited to try to overturn the presidential election was known the day of the attack, as was the time of Trump\u2019s tweet. What was not known until Tuberville\u2019s statement was whether Trump was aware of the danger Pence was in at the time he posted his tweet.<\/p>\n
Trump spokesperson Jason Miller did not respond to HuffPost queries late Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Miller and other Trump boosters have been arguing that the former president did not incite the mob that attacked the Capitol and that he could not have known that they would resort to violence.<\/p>\n
Democrats presenting the impeachment case spent hours Wednesday showing that Trump began claiming he could only lose reelection if the other side cheated many months before Nov. 3 and that he began ramping up his language encouraging supporters \u201cto fight\u201d starting just days after losing by 7 million votes.<\/p>\n
All but six Republican senators voted Tuesday to dismiss the impeachment case as \u201cunconstitutional\u201d because Trump is no longer in office. Should Trump be convicted with a two-thirds supermajority, a simple majority vote would prevent him from ever seeking federal office again.<\/p>\n
Related…<\/p>\n
Shocking New Capitol Security Footage Shows How Close Rioters Came To Lawmakers<\/p>\n
Democrats Stress That Only Trump, Not GOP Senators, Deserves Blame For Riot<\/p>\n
Democrats Aren't Letting Republicans Look Away From Trump's Role In Capitol Mob<\/p>\n
Fox News Abruptly Cuts Off Impeachment Trial During Chilling Testimony<\/p>\n