Donald Trump has responded to rare criticism from Mike Pence.

Last night, while speaking at a Federalist Society event in Florida, the former vice president of the United States, Pence verbally countered a recent statement from Trump, in which the former president alluded that recent efforts in Congress to strengthen the Electoral Count Act as evidence that the former vice president could have acted unilaterally in Congress on January 6, 2021.

As reported by CNN, Trump said on Sunday: "Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!"

However, Pence quashed the claim, saying Friday night: "I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong."

"The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president," the former VP said.

Pence continued: "There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress that I possess unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes."

"I had no right to change the outcome of our election. Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024," he added.

In response, Trump released a statement late Friday night through his Save America PAC, which read: "Just saw Mike Pence’s statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything with respect to the Electoral Vote Count, other than being an automatic conveyor belt for the Old Crow Mitch McConnell to get Biden elected President as quickly as possible."

Trump's comments here regarding any voter fraud are, once again, unfounded and baseless.

Trump continued: "Well, the Vice President’s position is not an automatic conveyor if obvious signs of voter fraud or irregularities exist. That’s why the Democrats and RINOs [Republicans In Name Only] are working feverishly together to change the very law that Mike Pence and his unwitting advisors used on January 6 to say he had no choice.

"The reason they want it changed is because they now say they don’t want the Vice President to have the right to ensure an honest vote.

"In other words, I was right and everyone knows it,” Trump said. "If there is fraud or large scale irregularities, it would have been appropriate to send those votes back to the legislature to figure it out. The Dems and RINOs want to take that right away."

Pence has repeatedly referred to the events of January 6 as "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol," and during a conservative policy conference in June, he said of Trump: "I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day."

On the morning of January 6, 2021, Pence also told Congress: "It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not."

Ever since the Capitol Riots, the relationship between the two former running mates has continued to grow more distant.

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Mike Pence has shut down Donald Trump's fresh claim that he could have overturned the 2020 presidential election results.

While speaking at a Federalist Society event in Florida on Friday, Pence responded to a recent statement from the former president, in which Trump pointed to recent efforts in Congress to strengthen the Electoral Count Act as evidence that the former vice president could have acted unilaterally in Congress on January 6, 2021.

As reported by CNN, Trump said on Sunday: "Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!"

However, Pence has now shot down Trump's claim, saying: "I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to overturn the election. President Trump is wrong."

"The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly, there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president," the former VP said.

Pence continued: "There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress that I possess unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes."

"I had no right to change the outcome of our election. Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024," he added.

In a statement shared to Twitter by Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington on Friday evening, the former president has responded to Pence's comments, saying:

"If the Vice President had ‘absolutely no right’ to change the Presidential Election results in the Senate, despite fraud and many other irregularities, how come the Democrats and RINO Republicans, like Wacky Susan Collins, are desperately trying to pass legislation that will not allow the Vice President to change the results of the election?"

Pence has repeatedly referred to the events of January 6 as "a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol," and during a conservative policy conference in June, he said of Trump: "I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye on that day."

On the morning of January 6, 2021, Pence also told Congress: "It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not."

Per CNN, Pence said back in November that he looked to founding father James Madison and the Bible while certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

While speaking at an event at the University of Iowa, he cited the Bible, saying: "Psalm 15 says he who keeps his oath even when it hurts."

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Mike Pence claims that he and Donald Trump still have conflicting views on the January 6 Capitol riots.

According to The Sun, the former Vice President touched on the deadly protests while speaking to a group of fellow conservatives at the Hillsborough County Republican Committee in New Hampshire on Thursday, June 3.

Pence reportedly told those at the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner: "January 6 was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol."

He continued:

"You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see eye to eye about that day.

"But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years."

Following a standing ovation from roughly 360 conservative attendees, Pence went on to assert that Republicans should not allow Democrats to use the insurrection to "distract our attention from a new administration intent on further dividing our country".

On Wednesday, January 6, a mob of pro-Trump supporters breached the Capitol building in Washington D.C. and interrupted the Congressional affirmation of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 US presidential elections. 

Once inside, the mob clashed with riot police, forcing Pence, a number of other politicians, and several journalists, to flee the scene. Five people, including a police officer, died as a direct result of the civil disorder. 

A video later emerged on social media showing the former Vice President and his family fleeing the scene. Protestors could be heard chanting: "Hang Mike Pence" and "Bring out Pence".

Trump was accused by many of inciting the violence in an incendiary speech made to a larger gathering of his supporters prior to the riots.

In it, the former POTUS repeatedly insisted without evidence that the Democrat party was guilty of voter fraud and that Joe Biden had stolen the election.

Per CNN, as recently as May 15, Trump has blamed Pence for not overturning the election result in a statement circulated by his Save America PAC.

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Mike Pence has refused to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office in the wake of the violent and deadly Capitol riots.

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Pence said that he did not believe invoking the amendment a week before Trump's term comes to an end was "in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution."

He encouraged Congress to focus on Joe Biden’s inauguration rather than on Trump.

"In the midst of a global pandemic, economic hardship for millions of Americans and the tragic events of January 6th now is the time for us to come together, now is the time for us to heal," Pence wrote.

"I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment."

On Tuesday (January 12), the House of Representatives convened to vote to urge Pence to invoke the 25th amendment.

The final vote was 223 to 205 to call on Pence to declare Mr. Trump "incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president."

However, Pence said in the letter that this should only be reserved for cases of medical or mental incapacitation and not "as a means of punishment or usurpation."

The House Speaker has said that if the Vice President refuses to use the 25th Amendment, the House will move to impeach the president again.

Per Sky News, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy will not ask members of the party to vote against impeachment.

A handful of Republicans have publically said that they would vote to impeach.

Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney and the third most senior Republican in the House of Representatives said she would vote to impeach the president.

"There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," she said in a statement.

Cheney also said Trump "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack" on the Capitol last Wednesday.

Three more Republican House members including John Katko, Adam Kinzinger, and Fred Upton have said they would also vote for impeachment.

A vote to impeach Trump will take place on Wednesday, (January 13). It would then move to the Senate for trial, with senators assuming roles as jurors.

While there is little time to impeach Trump before he leaves office in a week, the Senate would still be able to prevent him from running for office ever again.

Yesterday, Trump referred to plans of impeaching him for a second time as a "hoax".

"The impeachment hoax is a continuation of the greatest and most vicious witch-hunt in the history of our country and is causing tremendous anger and division and pain far greater than most people will ever understand."

Earlier today (January 6), the outgoing US President Donald Trump revved-up his supporters at a rally near the White House, telling them: "We will never concede".

Speaking prior to Congress assembling to count the electoral votes and officially certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Trump urged his supporters to march on the Capitol, and even told the crowd "I'll be with you".

Addressing the crowd at the 'Save America March', Trump once again continued falsely claim that the presidential election was rigged, that Biden did not win, and that Vice President Mike Pence can change the outcome of the election.

As reported by CBS News, Trump said: "I hope Mike is going to do the right thing, I hope so. I hope so. Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election."

He added: "[Pence] has the absolute right to do it. We're supposed to protect our country, support our country, support our Constitution, and protect our Constitution."

However, as reported by The Independent, Mike Pence instead declared in a letter to members of Congress: "It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrained me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not."

Additionally, Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell stated that the presidential election was "not actually particularly close" and that if the challenge by the president’s allies were successful it "would damage our republic forever".

At the rally, Trump also stated that he would "never concede", telling cheering supporters: "We will never give up. We will never concede.

"That doesn't happen. You don't concede when there's theft involved."

Trump also used his speech to attack the mainstream media, telling the crowd: "Our media is not free. It’s not fair. It suppresses thought. It suppresses speech. It’s become the enemy of the people," Trump said.

"It’s the biggest problem we have in this country."

The POTUS then urged his supporters to march on the Capitol, CBS reports, and even told the crowd: "I'll be with you".

Concluding his speech, Trump said: "Today is not the end — it’s just the beginning,"

Prior to his speech, Trump took to Twitter to make baseless claims regarding the presidential election and make unfounded allegations that Georgia officials had been counting fraudulent votes.

He also claimed: "They just happened to find 50,000 ballots late last night. The USA is embarrassed by fools. Our Election Process is worse than that of third world countries!"

Later he said: "Even Mexico uses Voter I.D."