Arizona’s Republican secretary of state nominee Mark Finchem accused former Vice President Mike Pence of attempting to orchestrate a “coup” to unseat former President Donald Trump.
The Trump-endorsed Arizona hopeful claimed the former vice president is scheming to “steal” the presidency in 2024 and attempted to orchestrate a “coup” to unseat Trump following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The accusations came at a meeting of the far-right group United Patriots in Mesa last July, though video of the remarks emerged Monday.
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Finchem asserted that Pence had usurped the power to order the Department of Defense from Trump in the aftermath of Jan. 6 but before President Joe Biden was sworn into office. Pence had told Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to send the military and National Guard to defend the Capitol from Trump supporters during the storming, according to a taped deposition from Milley.
“How long has he been ordering those folks around?” Finchem asked in a video posted Monday. “Apparently from Jan. 6 to Jan. 20. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s a coup.”
The scheme to steal the presidency in 2024, an election during which Biden will be the incumbent, extends beyond Pence to former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Finchem said. Ryan lives in Wisconsin, where the Republican National Convention will take place in 2024.
“Could it be that this is the cover-up of the coup that happened in the first place?” Finchem said. “Especially since the RNC committee is going to be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? Ladies and gentlemen, this is an indictment against the individuals who betrayed a president at the very moment they should have stood beside him.”
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Pence has teased plans to seek a 2024 presidential bid. However, he has not announced his campaign.
Finchem secured the Republican nomination for secretary of state of Arizona last month and will compete against Democratic nominee Adrian Fontes in November. If he loses, Finchem has vowed not to concede.
