Mike Pence has revealed Donald Trump’s blunt two-word reply when the former vice president offered prayers after the Capitol riot.
Pence, 64, disclosed the exchange during a Wednesday appearance at the Economic Club of Washington DC while discussing his 2022 memoir *So Help Me God*. The event came as he continued to publicly reflect on the collapse of a partnership that spanned four years in the White House.
In his book, Pence describes a “close working relationship” with Trump that unraveled after the president turned on “those of us who defended the Constitution.” The rupture followed Pence’s refusal to block certification of the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021, a decision that made him a target of rioters chanting “Hang Mike Pence” as he was rushed to a Senate loading dock to coordinate the government response.
Trump had publicly attacked Pence that day in a tweet stating he “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
The two men sat down alone for roughly 90 minutes after the Capitol was cleared and the reality of Trump’s defeat had settled. Pence said they “talked through all of it,” as quoted by CSPAN coverage of the Economic Club event.
Pence recounted pressing his former running mate to reframe the loss. He said: “I told him that I had prayed for him for the past four and a half years, and I encouraged him to pray. ‘Jesus can help you through this,’ I said. ‘Call on Him.’ He didn’t say anything.”
Trump instead fixated on the sequence of events that led to the violence. Pence recalled him asking whether things would have been different if they “hadn’t had the rally” and “hadn’t gone to the Capitol,” concluding it was “too terrible to end like this.”
When Pence rose to leave, he delivered a final message to the defeated president.
“I looked at Trump as I got up from our meeting and I said, ‘Mr. President, I want you to know. I’m praying for you.’
“And he looked at me and he said, ‘Don’t bother.'”
Pence also shared that he had urged Trump earlier in the conversation not to view the election outcome as a permanent defeat, suggesting he see it “not as a loss — just an intermission.” Trump reportedly did not respond well to that framing either, and the two did not speak for several days afterward.
Despite the rebuff, Pence maintained his position. He resolved to Trump: “We will never agree on January 6th and I’m never going to stop praying for you.”
In his memoir, Pence condemns Trump’s “reckless words” for “endangering [his] family and all those serving at the Capitol.” While he notes he “had always been loyal to President Trump,” the events of January 6 marked an irreversible turning point.
The disclosure of the “Don’t bother” remark adds a stark personal dimension to one of the most public fractures in modern American political history, capturing in two words the bitterness that remained after the violence had ended and the votes had been counted.
Pence continues to promote his memoir and speak on the events surrounding the transfer of power.