Pence says he's not worried about Trump inciting violence. CNN reminds him that some of his supporters wanted to hang him.

• Former Vice President Mike Pence said he's not concerned about Trump's rhetoric inciting violence.
• Trump recently said it would be "very dangerous" to indict him over the January 6 insurrection.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is convinced that history will not repeat itself.

Appearing on CNN Sunday, the Republican presidential contender was asked about former President Donald Trump's recent claim that indicting him for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection would be "very dangerous" given the "passion" of his supporters.

"It doesn't worry me because I have more confidence in the American people," Pence responded. The former vice president said he was "infuriated" by the violence on January 6 but argued that the ransacking of the US Capitol was carried out by a small minority of Trump supporters.

"I would say not just the majority, but virtually everyone in our movement, are patriotic or law-and-order people who would never have done anything like that," Pence said.

In a radio interview earlier this month, Trump appeared to suggest that some of his supporters would react violently were he to be indicted again. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has already charged the former president with mishandling classified national security information, recently informed Trump that he's also target of his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is also investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the results in Georgia.

"I think it's a dangerous thing to even talk about," Trump told conservative talk show host Simon Conway. "Because we do have a tremendously passionate group of voters.... Much more passion than they had in 2020 and much more passion than they had in 2016. I think it would be very dangerous."

After CNN played the recording of Trump's remarks, Pence said he could "hear my former running mate's frustration in his voice." But he added that he was "sure" the former president's supporters would respond in a peaceful manner.

That prompted host Dana Bash to express surprise.

"That's pretty remarkable that you're not concerned about it given the fact that they wanted to hang you on January 6," she said.

Pence reiterated his view that the rioters were out of step with most Republicans. "There's been an effort to take those that perpetrated violence on January 6 and use a broad brush to describe everyone in our movement," he said. "It's not the case."

Back in 2021, shortly after his supporters began smashing windows and overwhelming police, Trump hopped on Twitter and Facebook to attack on his own vice president.

"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution," he wrote, falsely claiming that Pence could have unilaterally blocked President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.

Around the same time, according to videos posted from inside the US Capitol, some Trump supporters began chanting, "Hang Mike Pence."

Two witnesses who later appeared before the House committee investigating January 6 testified that Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, told them Trump reacted approvingly to the chants.