Did Donald Trump use the phrase "Hang Mike Pence" or similar during the Jan. 6 rally?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Available public accounts say rioters at the Capitol chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and that some witnesses told investigators President Trump reacted in ways that supported or did not oppose those chants — including testimony the panel heard that Trump “expressed support” for hanging Pence — but Trump has denied saying “Hang Mike Pence” himself [1] [2] [3]. Multiple reporting threads rely on witness testimony to the Jan. 6 committee and aides’ accounts rather than on a public audio clip of Trump saying the full phrase [1] [3] [2].
1. What happened on the ground: chants, gallows and direct threats
During the siege of the Capitol, multiple news outlets documented that members of the mob repeatedly shouted “Hang Mike Pence,” and that a makeshift gallows was visible outside the building — concrete, contemporaneous threats observed by journalists and officials [4] [2]. Those chants were a direct response to Pence’s refusal to block certification of the Electoral College votes; reporting from PBS and AP ties the chants in time to the rioters’ awareness of Pence’s role that afternoon [4] [2].
2. Did Trump utter the exact words “Hang Mike Pence”?
Available reporting does not point to any audio or video of Donald Trump at the time saying the full phrase “Hang Mike Pence” aloud. Instead, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee and subsequent press accounts rely on the recollections of aides and witnesses asserting that Trump reacted in a way the aides characterized as supportive of the notion that Pence “deserved it” or that “maybe our supporters have the right idea” after being told the crowd was chanting to hang Pence [1] [2]. Cassidy Hutchinson later testified she heard Trump say the word “hang” in that context, but reporting frames that as witness testimony rather than an independently recorded statement [3].
3. Which witnesses and sources make the allegation?
The key claims come from testimony and interviews summarized by reporting — including Mark Meadows’ reported retelling to colleagues and testimony presented to the Jan. 6 panel, three people who told POLITICO that Trump “expressed support for the prospect of hanging” Pence, and accounts relayed by Cassidy Hutchinson [1] [3]. The AP and PBS accounts repeat committee findings that then‑President Trump was informed of the chants and, according to some committee members, responded with sentiments interpreted as endorsing the crowd’s anger [2] [4].
4. Trump’s denials and the counterargument
Trump has publicly denied ever saying or thinking “Hang Mike Pence,” calling witness claims false in later statements [2]. That denial is recorded in news reports that also note the committee presented testimony suggesting otherwise; thus, the record contains direct denials from Trump alongside secondhand accounts from aides and witnesses who describe his reaction [2] [1].
5. Why eyewitness testimony matters — and its limits
The most consequential public allegations come from aides’ recollections and staff testimony rather than contemporaneous, independent audiovisual proof of a full phrase uttered by the president [1] [3]. Journalistic accounts make clear the difference: witness testimony can be persuasive and corroborated by patterns of behavior (tweets and public statements that inflamed the crowd), but memory and hearsay among multiple actors introduce evidentiary limits that reporting properly flags [1] [2].
6. The broader context of Trump’s words and the crowd’s reaction
Even where reporting stops short of an audio clip of Trump saying “Hang Mike Pence,” contemporaneous actions and statements mattered: Trump’s 2:24 p.m. tweet criticizing Pence was read aloud by rioters and stoked anger, and committee reporting ties that rhetoric to the mob’s threats [2] [4]. Multiple outlets present a throughline where Trump’s pressure on Pence before Jan. 6 and public outrage during the attack fed the crowd’s hostile focus on the vice president [4] [5].
7. What reporters and investigators disagree about
Sources disagree on whether Trump verbally endorsed the chant in full or merely reacted with a sentiment interpreted as supportive. POLITICO and AP report committee testimony alleging an endorsement; Trump and his defenders categorically deny he ever said the phrase [1] [2]. Cassidy Hutchinson’s account that Trump said the word “hang” is reported but sits alongside disputes over precise wording and sourcing [3].
8. Bottom line for readers
Reporting shows rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and several witnesses told investigators that Trump reacted in a way interpreted as approving those calls; there is no cited contemporaneous audio in these accounts of Trump saying the exact phrase “Hang Mike Pence” aloud, and Trump denies ever saying it [4] [1] [2] [3]. Readers should weigh published witness testimony (committee summaries, aides’ recollections) against the absence of a clear audio recording and against the president’s stated denial when forming conclusions [1] [2].
Limitations: available sources in this file are media reports and committee summaries that rely heavily on witness testimony and published recollections; they do not include any definitive primary audio of Trump saying the full words, and they record competing statements from Trump and his accusers [3] [1] [2].