US President Donald Trump has turned on his deputy, accusing him of lacking courage after Mike Pence said he would not intervene in the election result.
In a tweet, the president wrote: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”
Earlier, Mr Trump repeated his claim that the election was stolen from him and called on Mr Pence to “do the right thing” and block the formal confirmation of Joe Biden’s presidential win.
But shortly afterwards, the vice president released a letter confirming he does not have such powers and did not believe those powers should be afforded to anyone in his role.
The president’s tweet came as thousands of protesters swarmed around the Capitol building, with some reports of demonstrators breaching security and entering the building.
Washington DC’s mayor has since ordered a curfew in the city.