Former President Donald Trump has been stumping a lot recently, holding rallies in front of his faithful, making promises and pounding the idea that former Vice President Mike Pence could have and should have acted to stop Joe Biden’s election.

On Saturday, Trump held out the idea that if he regains the White House, he will pardon the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters who are being put in jail for their insurrection.

“If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6th fairly,” Trump said Saturday night during a rally in Conroe, Texas. “And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons because they are being treated so unfairly.”

Speaking of being treated unfairly, Trump railed against prosecutors and state AGs who are investigating his actions during the insurrection. “If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, D.C, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere, because our country and our elections are corrupt,” Trump said at the same rally.

In New York on Tuesday, Trump issued another statement, saying the Jan. 6 committee in Congress should be investigating why Pence didn’t reject the voting results that made Biden president. He continues to contend that Pence had the power to reject the election results.

Pence did not have that power, of course. Congress is now working on legislation to make it clear in the Electoral Count Act, which gives the vice president only a ceremonial role in affirming the presidential election results.

That is a good idea, and a bipartisan group of congress members are working on it. We hope they succeed and have the process crystal clear by the next presidential election.

In the meantime, Trump’s statements seemed aimed at stirring up his base and cementing their loyalty, which probably needs little cementing. In the meantime, his statements should be problematic for other Republicans who might be chafing at being expected to support someone who continues to make so many outlandish claims.