Did Donald Trump Really Say This To Mike Pence About The 2020 Election?

Former President Donald Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence, had a rollercoaster of a relationship during their time in the White House. Sometimes, Pence disagreed publicly with Trump, but he still supported the president. Most notable of the pair's disagreements was when Pence said he doesn't think he will ever see "eye to eye" over the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol, but will "always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years," per the Associated Press.

Even though Pence and Trump have different approaches to governing, they still bonded in new ways, according to CNN. They both had each other to lean on while facing an unimaginable amount of crisis since the moment Trump won the 2016 election, especially while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. 

However, when Trump lost the 2020 election and tried to bring Pence into the mix, that might've been the straw that broke these GOP elephants' backs. Read on to find out what Trump reportedly said to Pence about the outcome of the 2020 election and how it made the political duo more estranged than ever.

"Peril," written by The Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa and released in September, discusses Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's administrations and the transition of power between the two, per The Washington Post. It also highlights Trump's frustration with the outcome of the 2020 election and his attempts to get Mike Pence to overturn the results.

"When Pence did not budge, Trump turned on him. 'No, no, no!'" Trump yelled, according to the authors, via CNN. "You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore if you don't do this." However, this is bigger than a friendship squabble. Trump was deeply and visibly upset with Pence refusing to do his bidding during the election certification. "If you don't do it, I picked the wrong man four years ago," Trump reportedly said, via another "Peril" passage, per CNN. "You're going to wimp out."  

Trump also insinuated how "cool" it would be for one person to have the power to overturn election results, per CNN. This made Pence uncomfortable, with the former vice president saying (via CNN), "I wouldn't want any one person to have that authority." The future of Pence and Trump's relationship remains unclear, but it's sure to make "Peril" a nail-biting read.