Back when he was just a venture capitalist who had managed to rise from the ruins of Appalachia, JD Vance publicly accepted that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. Then Vance decided to run for Senate—and his tune quickly changed.
Since winning that Ohio Senate seat and being tapped as Trump’s running mate, Vance has been forced to backtrack on calling Trump “America’s Hitler.” Now he’s frantically trying to sidestep his way out of answering a fundamental question: Did Trump lose the 2020 election? President Joe Biden’s victory has been proven numerous times in court decisions across the country, but Vance won’t acknowledge it.
Vance’s “damning nonanswer” during the Oct. 1 vice presidential debate drew swift criticism from veterans and many political pundits. His refusal to admit that the United States has free and fair elections is not only dangerous, but disqualifying.
Yet the Republican vice presidential nominee keeps dodging the question at every opportunity. Here are seven times he did just that in the past 11 days.
1. He avoided it in an interview with The New York Times.
During The New York Times’ podcast “The Interview,” host Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance responded similarly to his answer in the VP debate, saying he’s “focused on the future.”
“There’s an obsession here with focusing on 2020,” Mr. Vance said. “I’m much more worried about what happened after 2020, which is a wide-open border, groceries that are unaffordable.”
2. And a second time.
Garcia-Navarro pressed a second time: “Senator, yes or no, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
“Let me ask you a question,” Vance said. “Is it OK that big technology companies censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, which independent analyses have said cost Donald Trump millions of votes?”
3. And a third time.
“Senator Vance, I’m going to ask you again,” Garcia-Navarro said. “Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
“Did big technology companies censor a story that independent studies have suggested would have cost Trump millions of votes?” Vance replied.
4. And a fourth time.
“Senator Vance,” Ms. Garcia-Navarro continued. “I’m going to ask you again, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
“And I’ve answered your question with another question,” Mr. Vance said. “You answer my question and I’ll answer yours.”
5. And a fifth time—yes, during the same interview.
Garcia-Navarro said there is “no proof, legal or otherwise,” of election fraud. Vance dismissed that as “a slogan.”
“I’m not worried about this slogan that people throw, ‘Well, every court case went this way,’” he said. “I’m talking about something very discrete—a problem of censorship in this country that I do think affected things in 2020.”
Vance topped it off by saying he would not have certified the 2020 election. Watch the infuriating exchange for yourself.
6. He blamed the media.
During a Michigan rally the day after the debate, Vance said, “Well look, here’s the simple reason: The media’s obsessed with talking about the election of four years ago. I’m focused on the election of 33 days from now because I want to throw Kamala Harris out of office and get back to common-sense economic policies.”
7. He dodged it on the debate stage.
And of course, there was the vice presidential debate on Oct. 1, in response to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s question: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance told Walz, before pivoting to an absurdly unrelated topic. “Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?”
“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz said.
It’s easy to shake your head in wonder at Vance’s absolute gall. But polls show the Trump-Vance ticket has an actual shot at winning in November, which means Vance would be charged with certifying electoral votes in a future election.
And one thing is chillingly clear: Vance is no Mike Pence.
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