Former Vice President Mike Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, revealed on Monday what went on during the Jan. 6 Capitol protests.
Speaking with ABC News reporter Linsey Davis on “Good Morning America,” Pence recalled the moments she and her husband were barricaded inside the former vice president’s Senate office as protesters began “storming” the Capitol building. Her daughter and Rep. Greg Pence (R-Ind.) were also in the office.
"I don't think any of us felt fear. I think we felt like a sense of resolve."
EXCLUSIVE: Former second lady Karen Pence speaks out for first time about Capitol riot. https://t.co/CunvMvG34K pic.twitter.com/aL1iCC7t5C
— ABC News (@ABC) August 14, 2023
Pence said “conditioning” by the Secret Service prompted her to shut the drapes in her husband’s office moments after being evacuated from the Senate floor.
“I think once you become, you know, second lady, life changed a lot for us. In fact, during the transition, we rented a home near D.C. And I remember walking in that home the first day — and Secret Service had put a butcher block paper, you know, all over the windows — and you couldn’t even see outside,” the former second lady said.
“Every time we traveled, they would have traveling bulletproof glass in every hotel room. So it’s a conditioning thing that I just knew. Whenever you’re in a situation where someone might be able to shoot through the window, just close the drapes,” she added. “That was my thinking at the time was like, ‘Wait a minute. Things are starting to happen out there. Let’s close the drapes.’”
Pence also recalled that after the 2016 election, she and her husband rented a home in Washington, D.C., where they got their first taste of that Secret Service “conditioning.” “Secret Service had put butcher block paper, you know, all over the windows and you couldn’t even see outside,” she remembered.
Mike Pence, who is currently running for president against Donald Trump, has criticized his ex-boss over his actions leading up to the Capitol protests. He has accused the former president of being “reckless” and endangering his family.
“The president’s words were reckless and his actions were reckless,” the former vice president told ABC’s David Muir in November 2022. “The president’s words that day at the rally endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol building.”
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Karen Pence said she was never actually afraid during the protests. “I just was discussing this with someone here in Iowa a few minutes ago, I never felt afraid,” the former second lady said. “I really felt like we just had such a peace and God’s presence. And just a sense of purpose and determination that I don’t think any of us in the whole group — all the staff and everyone with us — I don’t think any of us felt fear. I think we felt like a sense of resolve.”
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