Vance says ‘no’ Trump did not lose the 2020 election

(CNN) — Vice presidential candidate JD Vance said “no” former president Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election “by the words” the Ohio Republican would use, when asked Wednesday what message it sends to independent voters that he has not directly answered that question.

“On the election of 2020, I’ve answered this question directly a million times: No. I think there are serious problems in 2020,” Vance said at a rally in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. “So, did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use, OK?”

“I really couldn’t care less if you agree or disagree with me on this issue,” the senator continued. “Here’s the thing that I focus on. Because what the media will do, they’ll focus on the court cases, or they’ll focus on some crazy conspiracy theory. What I know, what verifiably I know happened, is that in 2020, large technology companies censored Americans from talking about things like the Hunter Biden laptop story. And that had a major, major consequence on the election.”

In the run up to the 2020 election, the contents of a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden were shopped to news organizations, with most newsrooms refusing to publish its contents over fears of a possible Russian disinformation effort.

“Well, OK, you could say, well, let’s say your view is that happened, and we still think Trump lost, or we— that happened, and we think that means Trump won. Who cares? It happened. Censorship is bad, and that’s the substance of what we’re focused on, and that’s what we care the most about,” Vance said.

Matt Corridoni, a spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, said in a statement that Vance had “finally admitted he denies the 2020 election results.”

“As Governor (Tim) Walz said on the debate stage weeks ago, Donald Trump selected Vance for this exact reason – he knows Vance will be a loyal soldier in Trump’s pursuit for absolute, unchecked, limitless power,” Corridoni said.

Vance said at the rally he cares more about what happened with President Joe Biden and Harris’ leadership over the past three-and-a-half years, returning to issues facing Pennsylvania voters.

“I think I’ve been asked probably eight or nine questions about 2020, and I give an honest answer, because I think it’s important to ask the question or answer the questions that are asked. But how many questions have been have I been asked about why Pennsylvanians can’t afford gasoline?” Vance said.

He said the Trump-Vance message to independents, Democrats and Republicans is “if you want a secure southern border and you want to be able to afford the American dream again, Donald Trump and I have a plan for you, and we will fight for you.”

Later Wednesday, pressed on why he finally answered “no” he doesn’t believe Trump lost the 2020 election, Vance gave a similar response, saying he’s answered the question for years and the American media should focus on problems facing voters.

“I’m sure there are as many opinions about the — about what happened four years ago as there are people in this audience,” Vance said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. “If you disagree with me on an issue, or you disagree with me about what I just said, or you disagree about a particular policy view of the Trump administration, that’s fine, because I believe in the United States of America, it’s OK to disagree. What I think that we’re all united on is that we need to get Kamala Harris out of the Oval Office so that Americans can afford to live a good life again.”

When pressed several times by The New York Times in an interview over the weekend, Vance did not say “yes” or “no” that Trump lost the election.

“I think that Donald Trump and I have both raised a number of issues with the 2020 election, but we’re focused on the future,” Vance told the Times. “I think there’s an obsession here with focusing on 2020. I’m much more worried about what happened after 2020, which is a wide-open border, groceries that are unaffordable.”

CNN’s KFile reported last week that, in the weeks after the 2020 election, Vance indicated he believed that Trump had lost the election and accepted that Joe Biden would be inaugurated.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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