History will hold the former US President "responsible" for his role in the Capitol storming in January 2021, former US Vice President Mike Pence said in Washington on Saturday. "His reckless words put my family and everyone in the Capitol in danger that day, and I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable," Pence said in a speech, according to consistent media reports.

After his defeat in the November 2020 presidential election, Republican Trump asked his party colleague Pence to block the formal confirmation of Democrat Joe Biden's election victory in Congress. However, Pence, who had been loyal to Trump until then, refused. On January 6, 2021, as Congress was about to certify Biden's election victory, radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. At the time, some Trump supporters called for Pence to be hanged.

The storming of the seat of Congress with five dead caused horror around the world. Trump and Pence have been at odds ever since. "I had no right to contest the election," Pence said on Saturday. "President Trump was wrong".

Pence began his speech at the Gridiron Dinner in front of journalists and political leaders by joking, but then said there was one thing he wasn't going to make fun of. "The American people have a right to know what happened in the Capitol on January 6," Pence said. "What happened that day is a disgrace and it would be undignified to portray it in any other way." Pence's unusually clear words came as a surprise to many observers.

Trump has already announced that he wants to run again for the Republicans in the 2024 presidential election. Pence is also said to be considering running for president. However, he has not commented on it himself.