Trump said he wouldn't pick Pence as his VP again because he 'committed political suicide' by refusing to reject electoral college votes for Biden: book

• Donald Trump said he wouldn't pick Mike Pence to be his VP again, according to an upcoming book.
• Trump said Pence "committed political suicide" when he refused to intervene in the election certification process.

Former President Donald Trump wouldn't pick Mike Pence to be his running mate if he were to run for president again in 2024, according to an upcoming new book.

Trump has yet to announce a 2024 run but he's been teasing one since leaving the White House.

"It would be totally inappropriate" to pick Pence as his running mate, Trump said, according to a report from The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of the upcoming book from journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker.

"Mike committed political suicide" when he refused to intervene in the election certification process as the former president had pressed him to do, Trump told Glasser and Baker.

Numerous reports have noted an apparent rift between Pence and Trump during the final days of his presidency, which reached its apex during the Capitol riot.

In January 2020, Pence ignored Trump's request to intervene in the process, and he later said that Trump was incorrect to say the vice president had the power to overturn the results of a presidential election.

Though the two are no longer on speaking terms, Pence's remarks drew outrage from Trump, who, in response, plainly called Pence "wrong."

Trump falsely claim that proposed changes to the Electoral Count Act gave Pence the authority.

"The reason they want [the law] 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 at the time, adding "Dems and RINOs" want to block the vice president from ensuring an "honest vote."

"A great opportunity lost, but not forever, in the meantime our Country is going to hell!" Trump said.

The Electoral Count Act spells out how Congress counts presidential electors and resolves disputes over results. Lawmakers are seeking to update the bill and clarify language that "leaves a door open for overt partisan manipulation of presidential election results at both the state and federal levels," Insider's Grace Panetta reported.

As vice president, Pence's job was to preside over the certification of the Electoral College in what is largely a ceremonial role. He did not have the power to overrule the results under the Constitution.

Since the insurrection, Pence has spoken out about his role in the Capitol riot, saying that January 6 was "difficult" to get through and calling it "a tragic day in the life of the nation."

"I know I did my duty under the Constitution of the United States," Pence said in a Fox News interview this past January. "But the president and I sat down in the days that followed that, we spoke about it, talked through it, we parted amicably."