Pence's former top aide said Trump is 'encouraging' violence on the day Congress votes

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Pence's former top aide said Trump is 'encouraging' violence on the day Congress votes to seal the 2020 election result

By Sophia Ankel




A former top aide to Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that she feared that violence could erupt in Washington, DC, on January 6, the day Congress is scheduled to meet to finalize the result of the 2020 presidential election.

Olivia Troye, who has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration since leaving the White House in August, told MSNBC she was "very concerned" that there would be violence "because the president himself is encouraging it."

"This is what he does. He tweets. He incites it. He gets his followers and supporters to behave in this manner, and these people think that they're being patriotic because they are supporting Donald Trump," she said.

"In terms of his legacy, this is a president who calls himself the president of law and order, and we have seen anything but that," Troye continued. "We had a bombing on Christmas Day. We've had protests in the streets. This is all out of control."

She added, "If that's the legacy that he wants, he certainly has it."

Earlier this month, Trump — who has still not conceded to President-elect Joe Biden — promised his supporters there would be a "wild" rally in the capital on the day of Congress' vote.

At least two downtown businesses have announced that they'll shut their doors that day out of concern for staff and guests.

"While we cannot control what happens outside of the hotel, we are taking additional steps to protect the safety of our visitors, guests and employees," Hotel Harrington, which has been a gathering spot for Trump supporters and members of the far-right group Proud Boys, said on Facebook, according to the Independent.

Troye, who endorsed Biden before the election in November, was Pence's advisor on homeland security, counterterrorism, and the coronavirus pandemic. In September, she slammed Trump's response to the pandemic.

Congress' vote is considered a formality in which members of the Senate and the House approve the long-decided electoral-vote count. Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, a result confirmed by the Electoral College on December 14.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have said they intend to challenge the results, citing baseless claims of voter fraud.

Trump has refused to concede to Biden, repeatedly pushing baseless claims challenging the integrity of the result. Trump has told aides that he might refuse to leave the White House on Inauguration Day, CNN reported last week.