Vance says ‘no’ Trump didn’t lose the 2020 election
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(Williamsport, Pennsylvania) — In his most direct answer yet of this election cycle, GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance said he does not believe former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
Vance’s response occurred when a reporter asked, “What message do you think it sends to Independent voters when you do not directly answer the question, ‘Did Donald Trump lose in 2020?'”
“On the election of 2020, I’ve answered this question directly a million times. No, I think there are serious problems in 2020 so did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use,” Vance said.
“But look, I really couldn’t care less if you agree or disagree with me on this issue.”
In a recently resurfaced clip from Spectrum News 1 in 2022, Vance said, “Yeah, I do,” when asked if he believed the 2020 election was stolen.
President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes.
Vance’s response comes after weeks of being asked by reporters if the former president lost the 2020 election.
This past Sunday in his interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz, Vance continued to dodge directly answering if Trump lost the 2020 election.
“Martha, you’ve you asked this question. I’ve been asked this question 10 times in the past couple of weeks. Of course, Donald Trump and I believe there were problems in 2020,” Vance said.
Pressed again by Raddatz, Vance replied, “I’ve said repeatedly I think the 2020 election had problems. You want to say rigged? You want to say he won? Use whatever vocabulary term you want.”
Taking questions from reporters at a campaign event in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, ABC News asked the Ohio Senator if he was concerned about election misinformation could impact this election cycle, Vance said he was concerned.
“I talk to people every now and then who will come up to me and say, ‘Well, you know, there are too many problems out there. We don’t trust the people who are going to count our ballots, and you know, so I’m not going to get out there and vote.’ That’s the exact opposite attitude you should be taking,” Vance said.
Trying to ease those who might have doubts about the election, Vance said that those who will be working the polls on election day are the same people in their community.
“Here’s something else that I think people don’t realize is, if you’re a local voter in a place like Williamsport, the people who are counting your ballots are often your neighbors. And again, it’s the local elections, and especially in our small and rural areas, it’s your neighbors who are counting these votes, it’s your neighbors who are counting these ballots.”
(NEW YORK) — In one of the most notable exchanges of the vice presidential debate, Republican candidate JD Vance refused to say former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and downplayed the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the ceremonial certification of the results.
The Ohio senator also declined to rule out challenging the outcome of the 2024 race, even if votes were certified by every state leader as legitimate.
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, expressed exasperation and disbelief. He said such denialism had to stop because it was “tearing our country apart.”
The topic of democracy, a top issue for many voters this cycle, came up near the end of the 90-minute debate hosted by CBS News in New York City.
Moderator Norah O’Donnell, noting there were no findings of widespread fraud in 2020, asked Vance about his past comment that he would not have certified the election if he had been vice president and instead would have asked states to submit alternate slate of electors.
“That has been called unconstitutional and illegal,” O’Donnell said. “Would you, again, seek to challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results?”
Vance first sidestepped the question by saying he was “focused on the future” and criticized Harris, who he later claimed was the real “threat to democracy” as he accused her of censorship.
When he did address the question, he said: “Look, what President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020, and my own belief is that we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square.”
“And that’s all I’ve said, and that’s all that Donald Trump has said,” Vance continued, even though Trump is criminally accused of trying to overturn the election. “Remember, he said that on Jan. 6, the protesters ought to protest peacefully, and on Jan. 20 what happened? Joe Biden became the president, Donald Trump left the White House and now, of course, unfortunately, we have all of the negative policies that have come from the Harris-Biden administration.”
Walz called those comments “troubling” and said he was concerned about Trump’s recent threats to jail political opponents and his efforts to cast doubt on this year’s outcome.
“Here we are, four years later, in the same boat,” Walz said. “I will tell you, that when this is over, we need to shake hands, this election, and the winner needs to be the winner. This has got to stop. It’s tearing our country apart.”
The two, in a departure from the civil tone of the night, got into a tense back-and-forth on the issue.
Vance tried to cast election denialism as an issue for both parties, trying to equate Trump’s actions to Hillary Clinton’s complaints about the 2016 election (but only after she conceded).
“Hillary Clinton, in 2016, said that Donald Trump had the election stolen by Vladimir Putin because the Russians bought, like, $500,000 worth of Facebook ads,” Vance said.
“January 6 was not Facebook ads,” Walz said, hammering him for casting Jan. 6 as “peaceful” given the violence and deaths.
That day, which began with a speech by Trump at the Ellipse in which he told attendees to march “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol, culminated in approximately 140 law enforcement officers being injured, more than a thousand people being charged and cost millions of dollars damage.
In the months leading up to Jan. 6, Trump spread falsehoods about the 2020 election being “rigged” and “stolen” by Democrats. At the Ellipse, he continued the incendiary language and proclaimed, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Toward the end of Tuesday’s debate, Walz turned toward Vance and pressed him directly: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
“Tim, I’m focused on the future,” Vance responded.
“That is a damning non-answer,” Walz shot back.
He also invoked former Vice President Mike Pence, saying the reason he wasn’t on the debate stage was because of his decision to carry out the certification of the 2020 results against Trump’s wishes.
“America, I think you’ve got a really clear choice,” Walz said, “of who’s going to honor that democracy and who’s going to honor Donald Trump.”
Trump also refused to accept that he lost the 2020 election during the ABC News presidential debate on Sept. 10.
When confronted with own recent remarks that he “lost by a whisker,” Trump doubled down. “I said that?” he responded.
“Are you now acknowledging that you lost in 2020?” ABC News moderator David Muir asked.
“No, I don’t acknowledge that at all,” he said. “That was said sarcastically.”
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing as he faces federal and state charges for his efforts to overturn his election.
(NEW YORK) — Monday’s bombshell report alleging infidelity and possible violations of House ethics rules by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., is rattling his reelection bid in a key Long Island district. But it’s not just New York’s 4th Congressional District that’s at stake.
D’Esposito, a former police detective, allegedly hired his longtime fiancée’s daughter and his mistress to work in his district office, jobs that received taxpayer-funded salaries, The New York Times reported Monday. The first-term lawmaker was already facing a tough reelection bid in a race that political handicappers rate a tossup as he wages a rematch against Democrat Laura Gillen, who he beat by less than 4 points in 2022.
D’Esposito’s district is one of over a dozen that President Joe Biden won in 2020 and is at the heart of the path to the House majority for either party — meaning that any slip-up could not just cost him his seat but also Republicans their already wafer-thin control of the chamber.
“This could be absolutely transformative and a real shot in the arm for the Democratic efforts to retake the House. The path back to power runs right through New York, and any shift in the political winds in any of these so-called Biden districts that are held by vulnerable Republicans could shake the math up. And Anthony D’Esposito just got that much more vulnerable,” said New York-based Democratic strategist Jon Reinish.
“This is a moderate suburban district, but transgressions like this are not smiled upon. So, yeah, this action just in and of itself could alter the balance of power.”
The New York Times report sent shockwaves through Washington and Long Island Monday just six weeks before Election Day.
Republicans are vying to defend their 220-212 majority in the House — an edge so painfully narrow it causes persistent headaches for GOP leaders to move legislation through the chamber. Seventeen Republican-held seats up for grabs this year were won by Biden four years ago, easily enough to offset the chamber’s current margin.
Long Island has gained heightened attention for veering right in recent years, culminating in a Republican sweep in 2022, including for D’Esposito.
However, Democrat Tom Suozzi retook one of those Long Island districts in a special election triggered earlier this year by the resignation of scandal-plagued former Republican Rep. George Santos and Democrats are hopeful that energy around Vice President Kamala Harris could lift up candidates down the ballot in November — an advantage the party didn’t enjoy in the 2022 midterms.
That makes running airtight races crucial for a GOP wary of doing anything to build on Democrats’ existing edge in those 17 majority-making districts.
“It’s an earthquake for D’Esposito,” said former Rep. Steve Israel, who used to represent a Long Island district and headed House Democrats’ campaign arm for two terms. “The fact is that it is a Democratic district that supported Biden, which means if you’re a Republican, you can’t afford mistakes, you cannot afford scandals, you cannot afford to lose yardage. And this particular story sets D’Esposito back significantly.”
“In a Trumpian environment where scandals don’t seem to matter, it’s possible for D’Esposito to survive,” Israel added. But “he now has spent more money than he wanted, the [National Republican Congressional Committee] has to come in and patch up the deficiencies. It’s not a headache, it’s a migraine.”
Republicans who spoke to ABC News argued that the scandal wasn’t quite so detrimental but conceded that the news wouldn’t help D’Esposito or the larger party’s prospects this November.
“Certainly, this type of news hurts. All depends on what if any lead he already has,” said New York GOP strategist Tom Doherty, who said he still believes Republicans will “do well” in Nassau County, where part of D’Esposito’s district lies.
“In a tight race where there’s a segment that may care about that or may be concerned about whether or not someone should have been on a payroll or not, that could make a difference, absolutely,” added one New York Republican strategist. “It can be harmful at the margins, and it depends on how close the race is to see if it matters or not.”
For his part, D’Esposito has hammered The New York Times over its report — without directly denying its allegations — while allies have come out behind him.
“The latest political tabloid garbage being peddled by The New York Times is nothing more than a slimy, partisan ‘hit piece’ designed to distract Long Islanders from Democrats’ failing record on border security, the economy, and foreign policy. My personal life has never interfered with my ability to deliver results for New York’s 4th district, and I have upheld the highest ethical standards of personal conduct,” D’Esposito said Monday.
“It’s a partisan hit piece that would not surprise anyone, and a tight election cycle in a seat that’s, it’s, it’s hotly contested, but he’s been a very strong advocate for his district. I’ve been up there a lot. I know the people of his district, and they are, they’re great champions of him and he of them,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., added Tuesday.
And, other Republicans argued, scandals just make less of an impact in an era dominated by seemingly historic controversies at the presidential level.
“I don’t see this making much of a difference at the voting booth. Voters understand that real life can be tricky,” said New York GOP strategist William O’Reilly, who added that scandals like this “definitely” pack less of a punch in the Trump era.
Some Democrats also sounded a hesitant note, arguing that the story could deal significant damage but that it’s taking place on terrain increasingly favorable to Republicans like D’Esposito.
“The question is, does this seal the deal? The answer is, no. Long Island is leaning much more red, much more Trump. Could this be something that puts Laura Gillen over the top or closes the race? Yeah, it could,” said New York Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who added that concerns about crime could dovetail with D’Esposito’s background as a detective.
Still, voters in D’Esposito’s district backed Biden by double digits in 2020, and operatives anticipated chatter of the scandal to spread like wildfire in the district.
“You’ve got to be able to amplify it, particularly with undecided voters. There’s a significant cohort of those voters in NY-04. The advantage they have is that they don’t really have to spend the money on it. The earned media will take care of that for them. I woke up this morning to an inbox filled with emails from Democrats and Republicans alike chattering about the news,” Israel said. “It will become its own narrative.”
“This revelation certainly does not help Republicans retain control of the House,” he added. “This is an obstacle in that path.”
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., shared details of how he is helping GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance prepare for his upcoming debate on Tuesday with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Majority Whip Emmer, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, was invited to stand in for Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, to help Vance prepare to take on the governor’s “folksy” personality.
Speaking exclusively to “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz on Sunday, Emmer said he’s spent the last month analyzing Walz’s previous debate performances.
“I’ve known Tim probably since he was first elected almost 20 years ago, and I worked with him directly for four years, I spent the last month just going back, all of his old stuff, to get his phrases down, his mannerisms, that sort of thing,” Emmer said. “My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so JD Vance knows what he’s going to see.”
Asked by Raddatz if he has participated in any mock debates yet and has officially played Walz, Emmer said he didn’t want to get ahead of Vance in sharing those details.
“The debate is on Tuesday night, so I’ll let your viewers decide that, I’m not going to get ahead of JD and the team,” Emmer told Raddatz. “If they want to talk about exactly what we did when we did it. How many times they can do that. For me, I did my job or have been doing my job in helping JD see what it is he’s going to be dealing with on Tuesday night.”
Emmer praised Vance, saying the Ohio senator will do a “great job” on Tuesday night and that “he’s got the issues on his side.”
“Vance could talk about the economy that Donald Trump fixed and that Harris and Biden broke. He can talk about the border that Trump fixed and they broke. He can talk about peace and stability around the world, which they don’t even have a clue [about]; they’ve caused all of this disruption,” Emmer said. “Once he understands that Tim Walz is just going to try and deflect and go into this folksy whatever, he’ll hold him accountable.”
As Vance heads into Tuesday night’s debate, he continues to struggle with his favorability numbers in national and state polling.
A recent AP-NORC poll found that Walz is viewed more favorably among registered voters than Vance.
In the poll, Walz has a 42% favorability rating among registered voters while Vance is at 27%. Along partisan lines, Walz also has better numbers — he has a 72% favorability rating among Democrats while Vance is at 51% among Republicans.
Pressed by Raddatz about what Vance needs to do to change Americans’ perception of him, Emmer rejected the polling.
“I think JD is very likable, and I think he’s well-liked, and I don’t buy into these snapshot polls that are being done for a specific reason,” Emmer said. “Once people get to know who [Walz] is and they know what his policies are, he’s more radical than Kamala Harris, people do not like him once they get to know him and JD will expose that on Tuesday.”
At his rally Saturday night in Prairie du Chien, Wis., Trump disparaged Harris’ mental acuity.
While attacking Harris over the situation at the southern border, Trump said: “Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country.”
Asked if he agrees with or approves of that language, Emmer did not answer directly.
“I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America. I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration, that we’ve witnessed for the last four years, Martha,” he said.
Pressed again by Raddatz if he agrees with Trump’s description, Emmer said, “I think we should stick to the issues.”
“The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. That – those are the issues,” he said.
On Friday, Harris visited the southern border for the first time in more than three years, where she announced several border policies she would pursue as president, including barring migrants who illegally cross the border from reentering the country for five years and enacting stricter criminal penalties for repeat offenders.
When asked if he opposes these policies that Harris is proposing, Emmer argued that Harris has had several years to act on the border issue and is only taking action now because of how critical the issue is for voters heading into the election.
“This is too little too late. Nobody can believe her because her actions have said something completely different for four years.”
