For weeks, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has faced repeated questions on the campaign trail about whether he believes former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. On Wednesday, he flatly answered "no."
Vance's comment came during an appearance in Williamsport, Pa., after a reporter asked him, "What message do you think it sends to independent voters when you do not directly answer the question, did Donald Trump lose in 2020?鈥�
鈥淚鈥檝e answered this question directly a million times,鈥� Vance said. 鈥淣o, I think there are serious problems in 2020. So did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use.鈥�
As Trump's running mate, Vance had repeatedly sought to redirect questions about the former president's loss in 2020 into a critique about censorship in that year鈥檚 election. During the vice presidential debate earlier this month, Vance was asked by his Democratic opponent, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whether Trump lost the race.
鈥淭im, I鈥檓 focused on the future,鈥� Vance said. Walz called the response a 鈥渄amning non-answer.鈥�
During with The New York Times published this past weekend, Vance was asked five times about the outcome of the 2020 race. Vance did not answer yes or no, but instead returned to his critique that social media companies censored reporting about Hunter Biden鈥檚 laptop 鈥� a decision that Vance has argued tilted the race.
鈥淚s it OK that big technology companies censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, which independent analysis have said cost Donald Trump millions of votes?鈥� Vance said during the interview.
The Harris campaign was quick to attack Vance for his remarks in Williamsport.
鈥淛D Vance finally admitted he denies the 2020 election results,鈥� the campaign said in a statement. 鈥淎s Governor Walz said on the debate stage weeks ago, Donald Trump selected Vance for this exact reason 鈥� he knows Vance will be a loyal soldier in Trump鈥檚 pursuit for absolute, unchecked, limitless power.鈥�
Addressing the issue a second time Wednesday at a campaign stop in North Carolina, Vance said he was 鈥渟ure there are as many opinions about what happened four years ago as there are people in this audience.鈥�
He continued, 鈥淚f you disagree with me on an issue, or you disagree with me about what I just said, or you disagree about a particular policy view of the Trump administration, that鈥檚 fine, because I believe in the United States of America, it鈥檚 OK to disagree. What I think that we鈥檙e all united on is that we need to get Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office so that Americans can afford to live a good life again.鈥�
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