'An extraordinary moment': Jonathan Karl reacts to Mike Pence finally condemning Trump
The House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 may no longer need testimony from former vice president Mike Pence following his public condemnation of former president Donald Trump on Friday, according to Jonathan Karl, ABC News' chief Washington correspondent.
Appearing on MSNBC moments after Pence's speech to the Federalist Society, Karl said it marked the first time the former vice president has uttered the words, "Donald Trump is wrong."
"Just finally coming out and saying it — 'Donald Trump is wrong' — from the loyal vice president, the most loyal person to Donald Trump in that entire administration until the day of Jan. 6, it's an extraordinary moment," Karl said.
Karl noted that when he interviewed Trump for his book, Betrayal, a few months after the former president left the White House, he asked if he had been concerned about the safety of his vice president during the Capitol insurrection.
"I said, 'They're chanting hang Mike Pence.' And his next words are, 'It's common sense, Jon,'" Karl recalled. "That interview was last year. It was in my book, it was out months ago. And we haven't heard any condemnation of any significance from anybody in the leadership of the Republican Party to those words from Trump — and yet we have this condemnation of (Adam) Kinzinger and (Liz) Cheney today."
READ MORE: 'President Trump is wrong': Defiant Mike Pence says he had 'no right to overturn the election'
Karl went on to note that two of Pence's closest aides, Marc Short and Greg Jacob, have already testified before the House Select Committee.
"I think one big question hanging over all of this is, does Pence himself end up cooperating with this committee?" Karl said. "I actually doubt it. I don't think it's going to come to the point where we actually see Pence himself testify. Maybe after you've seen his words today, maybe they don't need his testimony. I mean it's clear what his position is, and it's clear the pressure he was under by Donald Trump."
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