Mike Pence cancels holiday to Florida as Trump launches legal battles over election
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Vice President Mike Pence has cancelled a visit to Florida and will now stay in Washington as President Donald Trump launches various legal efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election in several states.
Mr Pence had been expected to fly on Tuesday evening to Southwest Florida International Airport before heading to the holiday island of Sanibel, where he was to stay until Saturday. His office has so far not issued a statement on his trip or its reported cancellation.
According to the Washington Post, the vice president is likely remain in the capital as Mr Trump fights his projected defeat at the ballot box via as yet unproven allegations of voter fraud.
The president and the vice president have still not conceded defeated, days after the Democratic candidate Joe Biden was declared president-elect by all major media networks, securing about 290 electoral votes.
Mr Pence has largely remained out of the spotlight since, however, and his posts on Twitter have been mostly measured, especially when compared to those of the president himself.
While Mr Pence has echoed the demands of the Trump campaign, that “every legal vote” should be counted, he has so far not made the same sweeping claims about the election being “stolen” by the Democrats. He reportedly declined to attend a news conference he was invited for in Philadelphia last week to allege election rigging.
On Tuesday the vice-president did urge senators to stick with the president, during a meeting when he them a presentation on the legal action the Trump team has planned, the Post reported.
“Great meeting with @SenateGOP today! Told them We’ll Keep Fighting until every LEGAL Vote for President @realDonaldTrump is counted & we’re going to Keep Fighting to send @Perduesenate and @KLoeffler Back to a Republican Majority in the Senate! See you in Georgia next week!” Mr Pence tweeted.
His tweet referred to Georgia's two Senate races, which appeared to be heading to a January runoff after candidates in last week's elections failed to cross a 50 per cent threshold necessary to win outright.
Mr Pence’s now-cancelled trip to Florida previously coincided with the passing of tropical storm Eta, which has led to some flooding in the south of the state. Sanibel was forecast to see wind and rain at least until Friday as a result.
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