Over the course of the vice presidential debate’s first 90 minutes, Sen. JD Vance was probably quite pleased with how things were going for him. The Ohio Republican was obviously well prepared; he was able to deliver his avalanche of demonstrably ridiculous lies; and his presentation was slick and polished. It was easy to imagine the pundits who would declare the GOP nominee the “winner” of the debate based solely on his style and “optics.”
And then the discussion turned to Jan. 6.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reminded viewers of the rioters, the “hang Mike Pence” chants, the dozens of injured police officers, and the dangers Donald Trump posed to democracy. Given a chance to respond, Vance began by claiming that his running mate “peacefully gave over power” at the end of his term, which probably came as a surprise to viewers who remember the insurrectionist attack on the Capitol that the former president was responsible for.
The Democratic nominee pressed further, asking a question that was both simple and important: “Did [Trump] lose the 2020 election?” As NBC News reported, the question went unanswered.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance refused to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election during the vice presidential debate Tuesday and downplayed the seriousness of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which injured more than 140 law enforcement officers. He also declined to say whether he would seek to challenge the results of this year’s election.
Given an opportunity to answer the question, yes or no, the GOP candidate paused before ultimately saying, “Tim, I’m focused on the future.”
Walz called the response “a damning non-answer,” which was more than fair given the circumstances. Indeed, a New York Times report noted, “By the end of the evening, the Harris campaign said it was making an ad off the Jan. 6 moment.”
Hours later, Walz promoted a new 30-second ad via social media, punctuated by comments Walz made at the end of the exchange: “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.”
Last night, what JD Vance didn’t say said everything. pic.twitter.com/0vmMwr0f37 Vox’s Zack Beauchamp described this as “the only moment from the VP debate that mattered,” adding, “Ultimately, every issue discussed earlier that night comes in second to the fundamental question of whether America’s democratic institutions deserve to endure. On that question, Vance truly is radical, and his exposure as such was the only truly important moment of the night.” To be sure, Vance’s record on this was problematic long before he took the debate stage. The young Ohio Republican hadn’t yet been elected to Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, but as recently as last month, Vance admitted that had he been vice president at the time, he would’ve ignored the legal path that Mike Pence followed and instead “asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors.” In case there were any lingering doubts about whether democracy is on the 2024 ballot, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee presented voters with a timely reminder.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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