Obama didn’t say Trump ‘tried to kill’ Pence in speech | Fact check

An Oct. 11 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shares a purported quote from former President Barack Obama about former President Donald Trump.
“He tried to kill his own Vice President, do you think he cares about you?” reads the supposed quote attributed to Obama. The post includes an image of Obama speaking in front of an American flag.
The post was liked about 40,000 times in two weeks.
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The post misquotes Obama, who in a campaign speech supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, said if Trump “does not care that a mob might attack his own vice president, do you think he cares about you?” Obama did not say Trump “tried to kill” former Vice President Mike Pence.
Obama campaigned for Harris in Pittsburgh on Oct. 10, a day before the Instagram post with the purported quote was shared. Obama mentioned in his speech that Trump, according to an unsealed court filing in Trump’s federal election interference case, allegedly brushed off concerns for Pence’s safety as rioters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, saying”So what?” when he was told Pence had been evacuated.
But the Instagram post misquotes the line Obama delivered almost immediately after describing Trump’s alleged attitude toward Pence that day.
“If Donald Trump does not care that a mob might attack his own vice president, do you think he cares about you?” Obama said, according to C-SPAN footage and a transcript of Obama’s remarks he shared on Medium.
Nowhere in Obama’s speech did he say Trump “tried to kill” Pence. There are also no credible reports of Obama saying the quote in the Instagram post.
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Multiple news organizations and Harris’ presidential campaign accurately conveyed Obama’s Oct. 10 remarks about Trump and Pence.
The photo of Obama in the Instagram post is from a speech he delivered in Wisconsin ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Obama didn’t say Trump “tried to kill” Pence in this older speech, either, according to C-SPAN footage.Trump faces four counts in the election interference case investigated by special counsel Jack Smith: conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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