The significance of Pence’s rebuke of Trump

Trump had invoked the idea of Pence unilaterally overturning the election in the run-up to Jan. 6. But he generally focused merely on the idea that Pence would send the issues back to the states to consider what to do about the (bogus) claims of voter fraud. Others around Trump have also, in the year since Jan. 6, distanced themselves from the more drastic idea of having Pence try to declare Trump the winner. Even shortly after his comments Sunday, Trump seemed to seek a mulligan, focusing a later statement only on the idea of Pence “sending it back to the states.”