WASHINGTON — Vice President-elect JD Vance says people responsible for the violence during the Capitol riot “obviously” should not be pardoned, as President-elect Donald Trump is promising to use his clemency power on behalf of many of those who tried on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the election that Trump lost.

Vance insisted in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that the pardon question is “very simple,” saying those who “protested peacefully” should be pardoned and “if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” He later said there was a “bit of a gray area” in some cases.

Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on “Day 1” of his presidency, which begins Jan. 20.

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the siege that left more than 100 police officers injured and sent lawmakers running into hiding.

Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for illegally entering the Capitol.

— The Associated Press