JD Vance dodged questions about Jan. 6 during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday, declining to answer whether he would take part in any attempted subversion of the election.
Ohio Sen. Vance was asked by moderators Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan whether he would participate in a repeat of the events of January 6, 2021, a question he got around by outright ignoring it.
“First of all, I think we're focused on the future. We need to figure out how to solve the inflation crisis caused by Kamala Harris’s policies, make housing affordable, make groceries affordable, and that’s what we’re focused on,” Vance said.
Ultimately, Vance downplayed the events of the attempted insurrection and claimed his running mate Donald Trump urged protesters to remain peaceful.
“He said that on January the 6th that protestors ought to protest peacefully,” Vance said. “And on January the 20th, what happened? Joe Biden became the President, Donald Trump left the White House.”
“I mean, he lost the election, and he said he didn't. 140 police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day, some with the American flag,” Walz said. “I worked with kids long enough to know, and I said as a football coach, sometimes you really wanna win, but the democracy is bigger than winning an election."
In a heated back-and-forth, Vance refused to answer whether Trump lost the election, which Walz called a “damning non-answer.”
WALZ: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2024
VANCE: Tim, I'm focused on the future
WALZ: That's a damning non-answer pic.twitter.com/D6tVg8HOFC
“I think you've got a really clear choice on who is gonna honor that democracy and who is gonna honor Donald Trump,” Walz said.
Governor Walz was quick to point out that Vance’s suggestion that he may not certify the election was a feature of his candidacy, not a bug, for Trump.
“He lost the election, this is not a debate,” Walz said, rejecting Vance’s side-steps. “When Mike Pence made the decision to certify that election, that’s why Mike Pence is not on that stage.”
