(WASHINGTON) — As former President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from him, those rumored to be in the running to be his vice-presidential nominee have walked a tightrope when asked if they would accept the 2024 results and how they viewed the 2020 election.
On the question of whether one’s views on the 2020 results and possibly the 2024 elections are a litmus test for potentially being picked as a vice president, Trump told Time magazine he “wouldn’t feel good” hiring someone on his campaign who acknowledged President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Trump has applied this strategy at the Republican National Committee, where the former president has filled the organization with his allies, including his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. As ABC News reported, the RNC asked those seeking employment within the organization if they believed the 2020 election was stolen.
Now, Trump’s vice-presidential hopefuls are facing the same test.
While the former president hasn’t yet indicated who he will pick to be his vice president, he has said he plans to make his announcement closer to the Republican National Convention, which is less than six weeks away.
On CNN in May, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was asked if he would certify the 2024 election regardless of who wins. The senator, who also certified the 2020 election results, said he expects Trump to be declared the winner.
“Well, certainly, we expect a fair and honest election and as a result of that expectation, we will certify the election and certify President Donald Trump as our 47th President,” Scott responded.
Asked by Dana Bash on CNN in May if he would accept the 2024 election results, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said he would as long as the elections were “free and fair” — sharing thoughts similar to Scott’s that the results would show Trump as the victor.
“I totally plan to accept the results of 2024, I think that Donald Trump will be the [victor] and if it’s a free and fair election, Dana, I think every Republican will enthusiastically accept the results,” Vance said. “And again, I think those results will show that Donald Trump has been elected president, reelected president.”
Asked if he would accept the results if Biden were declared the winner, Vance said, “sure, if it’s a free and fair election.”
On NBC’s Meet the Press in May, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio refused to say whether he would accept the 2024 election results.
“I think you’re asking the wrong person. The Democrats are the ones that have opposed every Republican victory since 2000,” Rubio said.
Unlike some of his colleagues in the Senate, Rubio did vote to certify the 2020 election.
During the 2024 GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee last August, North Dakota Gov. Doug Brugum said that former Vice President Mike Pence did the “right thing” on Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers sought to certify the 2020 election results. Pence rejected calls for him to either block or delay the certification.
In an interview with CNN in May, Burgum told Jake Tapper that he believes Biden won the 2020 election but that there were also “irregularities” in the voting process because of COVID.
“I believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 election but I also based on the number of votes in but I think that because of COVID there was a huge number of irregularities because we changed a bunch of rules in certain places and certain precincts in certain states,” he said.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who did not vote to certify the 2020 election results, didn’t commit to accepting the 2024 election when asked earlier this year.
“We will see if this is a legal and valid election,” Stefanik told NBC News.
Sen. Tom Cotton, who voted to certify the 2020 election, said last week that Americans should accept the 2024 results as long as they are “free and fair.”
“What I won’t do, and I don’t think what any candidate should do is renounce, in advance, the ability to challenge any kind of fraud or unfairness in the elections,” Cotton said to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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