Donald Trump has picked Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, after two years of repeating the former president’s baseless claims about the 2020 election.
Vance has been the most vocal election denier among Trump’s handful of finalists and has claimed without evidence that the election was stolen since he began running for the Senate in 2022.
Republicans who have expressed concerns about the 2020 election range from those who say they don’t like how certain voting rules were changed because of the pandemic to those making unfounded claims that the election was stolen.
Vance runs the gamut.
- He argued that the way Pennsylvania changed voting deadlines in 2020 was problematic.
- He criticized Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for donating to a nonprofit that helped local election officials during the pandemic.
- He claimed that intelligence agencies and major tech companies had “censored” the Trump campaign.
- He claimed, without evidence, that people had voted illegally “on a massive scale” in the election.
- He said states such as Georgia and Pennsylvania should have sent their electors to both Trump and Biden and let Congress decide.
Looking ahead to November, it’s worth noting that Vance echoed what Trump has said in the past when asked if he would accept the election results.
“If it’s a free and fair election, Dana, I think every Republican would enthusiastically accept the outcome,” Vance told CNN’s Dana Bash in May, “and again, I think the outcome would be an indication that Donald Trump has been elected president.”
But when asked whether he would accept defeat in his Senate race, Vance was more diplomatic and said he was confident in Ohio’s election.
“I expect to win,” he said at a Fox News town hall just days before the 2022 election, “but of course, if things don’t go the way I expect, I’ll support whoever wins and help them in any way I can.”
Rejection of the election was also a key reason why Trump’s running mate position was left vacant in the first place. On January 6, 2021, the two had a falling out after then-Vice President Mike Pence refused Trump’s request to challenge the electors, leading to an angry mob that stormed the Capitol and threatened to “hang Mike Pence.”
Congress later changed election counting laws to make it clear that the vice president’s role in the election process is purely ceremonial, but Vance has also made it clear he is prepared to cross lines that Pence would not cross, which may have helped his ascension to the vice presidency.
