House Republican Tells a Shocked Manu Raju That Mike Pence ‘Wasn’t Really in Peril on Jan. 6’

CNN’s Manu Raju was stunned after his guest Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) said that former Vice President Mike Pence “wasn’t really in peril” on January 6 while protestors chanted “Hang Mike Pence” outside the Capitol.

The conversation stemmed from what was inside special prosecutor Jack Smith’s new unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Part of Smith’s evidence included an account of a Trump aide informing then-President Trump that Pence had to be moved to a secure location as the Capitol was breached by violent rioters . Pence had been certifying the results of the 2020 election that Trump lost to President Joe Biden . Trump’s response to his VP’s safety was: “So what?”

Raju, filling in for Dana Bash , asked Mast about the exchange, and Mast severely downplayed the evidence contained in the indictment as well as the events of the January 6 insurrection:

Raju: What is your response to the president’s apparent reaction to his then-vice president, his life being in danger?

Mast: I don’t think that that should be categorized as anything other than hyperbole right there. He had said–

Raju: I think it’s based on the evidence that the prosecutors found, though.

Mast: He had Secret Service protection. Now at that time, we thought that Secret Service protection was the gold standard of protection and they would be keeping him safe. He was under protection. Okay. He’s being brought to a secure facility . Okay. That’s something that’s being done. It doesn’t really require a great deal of thought. And he wasn’t really in peril. That’s the truth of the situation.

Raju: They were saying “Hang Mike Pence” in the Capitol. You don’t think his life was in peril?

Mast: No, his life wasn’t really in peril. He was protected by Secret Service. That is a fact. And the people that came to the Capitol — as we know, it doesn’t like to get reported — the president told them to go there peacefully, not anything otherwise. But the unsealing of these documents by Jack Smith, that’s — clearly it’s political. That’s the point I would make, number one, this has political intentions. They want to affect November 5th.

Watch the video above via CNN.