Relations between Trump and Pence have deteriorated considerably since the vice president confirmed Thursday the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in November's presidential election, before both houses gathered overnight for a special session after a day of unimaginable violence in Washington.
A crowd of Donald Trump supporters had invaded Capitol Hill, interrupting the debates. Five people died in the violence, which the incumbent Republican President is accused of encouraging through his statements.
On Saturday, numerous press reports quoting high-level government officials assured that Pence, who had to seek shelter from the crowd that invaded the Capitol, decided to attend Biden's January 20 swearing-in ceremony.
The president-elect said Friday that Mike Pence is "welcome" to attend the ceremony, welcoming Trump's Twitter announcement of his own absence in a final tweet before his account was closed.
Joe Biden is expected to take office in a reduced format due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After the violence of January 6, the outgoing president could find himself as early as Monday under a second impeachment procedure, a development without historical precedent.
In power since 2017, Donald Trump has already been targeted in Congress by a disgraceful impeachment proceeding, opened by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, in late 2019 on charges that he asked a foreign country, Ukraine, to investigate his rival Joe Biden. He had been acquitted in the Senate, with a Republican majority, in early 2020.
Nancy Pelosi promised to act if the Republican President did not resign immediately.
Democratic leaders urged Mike Pence to declare, with a majority of the government, that Donald Trump was "unfit" to serve on the basis of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.
Pence did not speak publicly on the issue, but The New York Times reported Thursday, quoting a relative of his, that he did not support the move because he fears it will increase tensions.
Source : AFP
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