AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
- Former second lady Karen Pence said that she "never felt afraid" while at the Capitol on January 6.
- "I really felt like we just had such a peace and God's presence," she recently told ABC News.
- Karen Pence said her role as second lady prepared her for the precautions she took that day.
Throughout the chaos of the January 6, 2021, riot at the United States Capitol, countless lawmakers spoke of the fear that they felt as the invading mob sought to halt the certification of now-President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.
As many lawmakers and aides sought refuge in offices and conference rooms in the Capitol complex, seeking to shield themselves from the raucous rioters just feet away, then-Vice President Mike Pence and then-second lady Karen Pence were moved from the Senate chamber to the vice president's ceremonial office before being whisked away to an underground Capitol loading dock.
But throughout that harrowing day, Karen Pence in an interview with ABC News said that she "never" feared for her life and remarked that she felt "God's presence" despite the uncertainty that filled the air. Many of the rioters infamously chanted "Hang Mike Pence" as they protested her husband's role in certifying Biden's win.
"I just was discussing this with someone here in Iowa a few minutes ago, I never felt afraid," the former second lady told ABC News anchor Linsey Davis. "I really felt like we just had such a peace and God's presence. And just a sense of purpose and determination that I don't think any of us in the whole group – all the staff and everyone with us — I don't think any of us felt fear. I think we felt like a sense of resolve."
When Davis asked Karen Pence about her drawing the curtains in the ceremonial office, the former second lady attributed it to "conditioning" from being in the public eye.
"I think once you become, you know, second lady, life changed a lot for us," she said. "In fact, during the transition, we rented a home near DC. And I remember walking in that home the first day — and Secret Service had put a butcher block paper, you know, all over the windows — and you couldn't even see outside."
"Every time we traveled, they would have bulletproof glass in every hotel room. So it's a conditioning thing that I just knew," she continued. "Whenever you're in a situation where someone might be able to shoot through the window, just close the drapes. That was my thinking at the time was like, 'Wait a minute. Things are starting to happen out there. Let's close the drapes.'"
Karen Pence praised the Secret Service members who were with her family that day, calling them "phenomenal," as they informed her, the then-vice president, and their daughter, Charlotte, that they would have to move to a new location from the ceremonial office.
"It was clear pretty early on that we might need to vacate that room and go somewhere else," she told Davis.
In the former vice president's 2022 memoir, "So Help Me God," he also recounted his sense of spirituality as he endured the ordeal with his family.
"I have often told our three children that the safest place in the world is to be in the center of God's will," the former vice president wrote in his book. "I knew in my heart that we were where we were supposed to be, doing what we were supposed to be doing I felt resolve and at peace informed by my upbringing in Indiana, my faith, my family, a lifetime of service and lifelong love of the Constitution."
The Pences eventually remained at the Capitol until January 7, 2021, when the certification of Biden's victory concluded in the early morning hours.
As a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, Pence has not shied away from his role on January 6, as he has stood by his decision to reject former President Donald Trump's entreaties to overturn the 2020 presidential results.
"I know I did the right thing," he told the Christian Broadcasting Network in a 2021 interview.
Pence remains far behind Trump in polls of the Republican presidential field, but he'll likely have to opportunity to jostle with his onetime boss at the first GOP debate later this month should the ex-president participate in the event.