Echoing his running mate, Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance repeatedly refused to admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election when pressed on it during the CBS-hosted debate against Democrat Tim Walz on Tuesday.
Instead, when asked directly, he falsely implied that there were problems with that year’s vote — and then sought to draw false equivalence between legitimate concerns about election interference, and Trump’s efforts to violently overturn the election on Jan.6 2021.
The moment, which came late in the debate, led Walz to ditch the surprisingly conciliatory tone that both candidates largely stuck to throughout, and pivot to an impassioned defense of democracy in the United States.
The exchange started when debate moderator Norah O’Donnell brought up Trump’s persistent refusal to accept the outcome of 2020, and asked Vance if he would deny this year’s election results should the GOP ticket lose.
The Ohio senator never directly stated that he would challenge the election, but he denied that Trump bore any responsibility at all for Jan. 6, falsely claiming that the former president asked protestors to demonstrate “peacefully.” Vance then tried to change the subject by arguing that “censorship” — which he appeared to suggest describes efforts to curb disinformation — is a bigger threat to democracy.
Walz appeared genuinely shocked by this. “So America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice on this election of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump,” he countered.
The Minnesota governor asked that when this election ends, he wants to shake hands and accept the results whatever they may be. Vance rebutted that Democrats have also questioned election results, referencing Hillary Clinton and the 2016 election, when complained that the outcome was influenced in part by a well-documented campaign of interference organized in Russia. Vance dismissed this as a low scale purchase of “Facebook ads.”
Walz’s response: “Jan. 6 was not Facebook ads.”
“It was very clear. [Trump] lost the election, and he said he didn’t,” Walz asserted. “A president’s words matter.”
When the Democratic vice presidential nominee asked Vance directly if Trump lost the 2020 election, the Republican candidate swerved, saying he’s “focused on the future.” The candidate doubled down that he and Trump both agree there were “problems in 2020.”
The CBS vice presidential debate will likely be the last face off before Election Day on Nov. 5, as Trump has declined Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed Oct. 23 debate.
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