At an event billed about immigration in Georgia on Friday, Ohio Sen. JD Vance again — for at least the second time this week — declined to say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
When asked by a reporter — to boos from the crowd — if he concurs with the former president’s baseless claim from his Michigan rally on Thursday that the 2020 election was “rigged,” Vance replied with a common dismissive phrase attributed to the southern United States: “Bless your heart.”
“So I’m from Ohio, I’m not from the South, but I think in the South there is a phrase that really works, ‘bless your heart,’” Vance, Trump’s running mate, said, to cheers from the audience.
“Look man, first of all, we’re focused on the future, in this election and in this campaign. If you look at what President Trump says, what I say, we are focused on the future,” Vance continued, before hammering Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on the economy and accusing the news media of over-focusing on the 2020 election.
At his event in Michigan on Thursday, Trump falsely claimed that he “won” the 2020 election.
“We did much better in 2020. We won. We won. We did win. It was a rigged election. It was a rigged election,” Trump said. “That’s why I’m doing it again. If I thought I lost, I wouldn’t be doing this again.”
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, a statement backed up by officials in both parties, including Trump’s own Attorney General William Barr. Cases alleging fraud in the 2020 election brought by Trump and his allies were rejected from courts nationwide, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Vance’s comment hearkens back to similar comments he made at a vice presidential debate against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, earlier this week. When asked Tuesday night if he would not certify this year’s election results even if every governor certifies their state’s results, Vance said he believed, like Trump, “that there were problems in 2020” and said those problems should be debated.
Vance charged that Trump had only encouraged peaceful protests on Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters mobbed the U.S. Capitol to disrupt Joe Biden’s victory, and that Biden was inaugurated two weeks later on Jan. 20, proving Trump supported a peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 election.
Walz pushed back on Vance’s interpretation of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack.
Trump, Walz said, “lost his election, and he said he didn’t. 140 police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day.”
“When Mike Pence made that decision to certify that election, that’s why Mike Pence isn’t on this stage,” Walz said. “What I’m concerned about is, where is the firewall with Donald Trump? Where is the firewall if he knows he can do anything, including taking an election, and his vice president’s not going to stand [up] to it.”
Walz also asked Vance point-blank if Trump lost the 2020 election — and the Ohio Republican dodged the question, saying instead he was “focused on the future.”
“That’s a damning non-answer,” Walz replied.
The Harris campaign launched a new campaign ad immediately after the debate focused on Vance’s answer. During the 30-second spot, which shows Trump supporters waving flags with his name during the attack, the ad warns: "If we elect Donald Trump, the past will be the future."
Days after the debate, Vance was asked by a member of a political comedy group if Trump won the 2020 election. He answered "yes."