J.D. Vance Says There Was Technically a Peaceful Transfer of Power in 2020 After, Well, You Know

For most of Tuesday’s debate in New York City, Republican Ohio Sen. and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance did well by following the tried-and-true bipartisan debate technique of pretending to be a sensible, patient, middle-of-the-road guy who could not possibly have said any of the controversial, voter-alienating stuff that his opponent and the debate’s moderators were accurately quoting him as having said. On issues like inflation and abortion, that might end up having worked well enough to help the Republican ticket at the ballot box, who knows, that’s not my post to write tonight. On one issue, though—namely Donald Trump’s attempt to interrupt the counting of electoral votes by sending a violent mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021—it was probably a bit too heavy a lift.

The subject was introduced by CBS moderator Norah O’Donnell, who asked Vance toward the end of the debate whether he would “seek to challenge this year’s election results” even if they had been certified by the governors of each individual state, like the results in 2020. Vance did not answer the question: