Vice President Mike Pence received a standing ovation when he addressed his staff in the aftermath of his most difficult week in office, telling them they should not let the actions of a violent mob overshadow their achievements of the past four years.
He attended a weekly staff meeting on Friday afternoon, with second lady Karen Pence and their daughter Charlotte Pence Bond, to exchange gifts with staff.
He also signed the Theodore Roosevelt desk in his ceremonial office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building beside the White House, adding his signature to those of his predecessors, according to a senior administration official.
Afterward, he telephoned the family of Brian Sicknick, the United States Capitol Police officer who died a day earlier from injuries sustained during the violent protests that rocked the country.
Wednesday’s events, and Pence’s central role in refusing to bend to President Trump’s demands that he reject Electoral College votes, brought a somber air to what otherwise might have felt like an end-of-term party.
In his remarks, Pence told his staff they should be proud of their work in government, but he also addressed the violent scenes at the Capitol.
“It was a reflection on the dark and abhorrent behavior of the people who decided to become a violent mob on Wednesday at the Capitol. That had been hanging over the group, over the meeting, like everyone else, and it felt necessary to address it,” said the official who was present.
“What he said was, you should hold your heads high and focus not on the actions of people in the past 48 hours, but you should focus on everything you accomplished in the last four years and the good that you did.”
He also exchanged gifts with staff, who presented him with his Cabinet chair.
“Immediately after that, he called the family of the Capitol Police officer who died from his injuries after the Capitol insurrection,” said a source familiar with the call.
Pence came under intense pressure from Trump before Wednesday’s joint session of Congress to help him overturn the results of November’s election. In the event, he told the president that the Constitution did not give him unilateral authority to reject states’ votes.
“It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not,” he wrote in a letter to members of Congress before he gaveled in the joint session.
The result was a presidential outburst. Trump said his loyal lieutenant lacked “courage” in an extraordinary Twitter broadside.
Pence worked from his residence on Thursday and did not meet with Trump on Friday despite being on the White House compound.
His staff gave him a “rousing” reception when he joined them in the afternoon to continue the tradition of signing a wooden drawer in the ceremonial desk.
The tradition started with President Harry Truman when he had the desk in the Oval Office. Other signatures include President Dwight Eisenhower and Vice Presidents Joe Biden, Walter Mondale, Nelson Rockefeller, and George H.W. Bush.
