MANCHESTER, N.H. Former Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged Thursday for the first time his break from his ex-boss over the Jan. 6 insurrection, but he still did not blame Donald Trump for inciting the violent attack that nearly got him killed.

As I said that day, Jan. 6 was a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol, Pence told about 360 Republicans gathered for the Hillsborough County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. You know, President Trump and I have spoken many times since we left office, and I dont know if well ever see eye to eye about that day. But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.

Pence got a standing ovation for that declaration, and he went on to urge Republicans to not let what happened divide the party.

I will not allow Democrats or their allies in the media to use one tragic day to discredit the aspirations of millions of Americans. Or allow Democrats or their allies in the media to distract our attention from a new administration intent on further dividing our country to advance their radical agenda, he said. My fellow Republicans, for our country, our future, our children and our grandchildren, we must move forward, united.

The remarks were his most detailed public discussion of Trumps attempt to overthrow American democracy and remain in power despite losing the 2020 election by 7 million votes. Pence was the linchpin of Trumps last-ditch scheme, and the former president had demanded that Pence reject vote tallies from a half dozen states, which would have left Trump with a higher total in the Electoral College so that he could claim victory.

Neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Count Act gives the vice president any such authority, and Pence repeatedly told Trump so over a period of weeks. The final such conversation came late on the morning of Jan. 6, just before Pence took the dais in the House to ratify the election results.

Notwithstanding this, Trump told thousands of followers hed assembled at a rally near the White House that he hoped Pence would do as he asked and two hours later lashed out at his vice president for refusing to do so. Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, Trump wrote at 2:24 p.m., as hundreds of his supporters were breaching police lines and storming into the U.S. Capitol. Many of them reacted to Trumps tweet with chants of Hang Mike Pence as they roamed the building searching for him while Secret Service agents worked to evacuate the vice president to safety.

Thanks to swift action by Capitol Police and federal law enforcement, the violence was quelled, the Capitol was secured and that same day we reconvened the Congress, and did our duty under the Constitution and the laws of the United States, Pence said Thursday.