Pence denies having discussed the invocation of the 25th amendment

In a Sunday interview on "Face the Nation", Vice President Mike Pence denied taking part in talks to invoke the 25th amendment, removing President Trump from office.

"No, never, and why would we be Margaret?" the vice president told the moderator of "Face the Nation" Margaret Brennan.

"The truth is that in the last eight years, despite what President Obama told us on Friday, I mean this country was in trouble, I mean it was the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression. "said Pence.

The two men spoke at his residence at the US Naval Observatory.

"I think the author of the anonymous editorial, and frankly the New York Times, should be ashamed," Pence told Brennan, denouncing it as a "shame."

The Vice President responded to the assertions made this week in a rare anonymous tribune published by The New York Times. The author of the editorialist, identified as a "senior administration official," claims to be part of a "quiet resistance" working to thwart President Trump's "reckless decisions" to within the administration.

In this document, the official describes "the first murmurs within the cabinet" to invoke the 25th amendment, prompted by the apparent "instability" of the president.

The 25th amendment allows the vice-president and the majority of the cabinet to replace the president, in the event that he is "unable to fulfill the powers and duties of his office".

In the years following ratification of the 1967 amendment, the mechanism was never used.

On Friday, the president publicly implored his attorney general to investigate the author's identity, later accusing the "top administration official" of treason.

Pence told Brennan that he "would not know" who wrote the editorial.

"But it seems to me that it's only an obvious attempt to distract attention from this booming economy and the successes recorded by President Trump," Pence told Brennan.

---

Margaret Brennan interview with Vice President Mike Pence will broadcast Sunday on "Face the Nation".

And to learn more about America's first public affairs program, follow "Face the Nation" on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.