During the vice presidential debate on Tuesday evening in New York, Democratic candidate Tim Walz harshly challenged JD Vance, Donald Trump's vice president on the Republican ticket, after the latter defined the former president's arguments according to which the elections of 2020 would have been rigged against him as a healthy political debate. Vance also compared his refusal to accept the election results to Hillary Clinton's accusations that Russia bought ads promoting Trump's candidacy.
“Gen. 6 were not Facebook ads,” Walz responded to Vance's claim that Trump's rhetoric and actions regarding his 2020 election loss are comparable to Clinton's statement about the 2016 race and Vladimir Putin's ad for Trump “[The Jan. 6 Capitol attack] it was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had never seen, and it came about because of Donald Trump's inability to say…keep saying he didn't lose the election.”
In addition to refusing to accept the results and conceding the race since the 2020 election was called for President Joe Biden, Trump has also been indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering, conspiracy to commit a crime against citizens' rights, and obstruction of an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding. The falsehoods Trump espoused about the 2020 election cost the United States more than half a billion dollars in legal fees stemming from lawsuits, Capitol security and repairs, according to one report. Washington Post report in 2021.
During the debate, which was lively and focused on politics between the candidates, who were remarkably civil and sometimes even in agreement with each other, Vance was asked whether he would seek to challenge this year's election results, a which he did not respond to. and instead told CBS moderators that he prefers to talk about the future. He then alluded to the Biden administration and censorship, presumably referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's statements that he regrets allowing the Biden administration to pressure him to remove posts about COVID-19 during the pandemic.
“I believe we actually pose a threat to democracy in this country, but unfortunately it's not the threat to democracy that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz want to talk about,” Vance said. “It's the threat of censorship. They are Americans who put aside lifelong friendships because of disagreements over politics. It's big tech companies silencing their fellow citizens, and it's Kamala Harris saying that, instead of debating and persuading her fellow citizens, she would rather censor people to push them into misinformation.
In response, Walz mentioned the deaths that the riot, which occurred among Trump supporters, caused at the Capitol and how it generated further threats of violence in his state.
“I don't think we can be the frog in the pot and let the boiling water rise,” Walz said. “It was very clear. He lost this election and said no. That day, 140 police officers were beaten in the Capitol, some with American flags. Many later died, and not only there. In Minnesota, a group gathered at the Capitol in Saint Paul [Minnesota] and said, “We are marching to the governor's mansion and there may be casualties.”
Walz then highlighted the fact that Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and Vice President Mike Pence's subsequent actions were ultimately the real reason Vance was standing before him on Tuesday night.
“When Mike Pence made the decision to certify that election, that's why Mike Pence is not on this stage,” Walz said. “What concerns me is: where is the firewall with Donald Trump? If he knows he could do anything, including run in an election, and his vice president won't stand for it, that's what we're asking of you, America: Will you keep your oath, even if the President doesn't? “