Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) stated he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power regardless of the election results in November. But he again skirted around questions of whether former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election while campaigning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Saturday afternoon.
When asked if he would accept a peaceful transfer of power, Vance quickly answered “yes” before further explaining his reasoning.
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“Of course, we do,” Vance continued. “Look, this is very simple. Yes, there was a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but there was still a peaceful transfer of power in this country, and that is always going to happen. Donald Trump’s committed to it, and so am I.”
Trump, however, has consistently maintained he would accept the results of the 2024 election if he likes them and has continued to cast doubt on President Joe Biden‘s 2020 victory.
Trump faces two indictments, one federal and one at the state level in Fulton County, Georgia, over his alleged attempts to overturn the election.
Notably, Vance was also asked on Saturday about his refusal to definitively say Trump lost the 2020 election and his statements that he would not have certified the election during a recent interview with the New York Times. His remarks echoed his refusal to say Trump lost during the vice presidential debate against Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN).
“As I said in that interview, and I’m gonna say to you right now, I think the election of 2020 had serious problems,” Vance responded. “You want to call it rigged. Call it whatever you want to. It wasn’t OK.”
Vance also chided the media for focusing on “a fake issue from four years ago.”
However, multiple federal agencies, including the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have previously stated the election was one of the most secure elections in American history.
Vance denounced the subsequent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack when asked by a reporter as he simultaneously claimed that inflation and economic concerns matter more to voters.
“Do I condemn the riot at the Capitol? Sure, I condemn the riot at the Capitol,” Vance answered. “Do I think that, as the media pretends, that the riot at the Capitol four years ago is a bigger deal than people not being able to afford groceries? No, I don’t.”
Vance then claimed that Trump was not at fault for the riot as he continued to respond.
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“Most importantly, do I concede the point that was implicit in your question that Donald Trump somehow was at fault when he told people to protest: absolutely not,” he said. “Go back and look at the tape. Go back and look at some of the record that’s come out in the last couple of weeks. Donald Trump asked people to protest peacefully.”
Democrats have long sought to remind voters about the chaos surrounding the 2020 election ahead of this year’s election, but voters have consistently said in polls that the economy is their top concern.
