Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has taken his warm, cult-blanket embrace of Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” to dizzying new heights, denying the truth of Trump’s 2020 election loss.
On October 16, at a campaign event in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Vance spewed an incomprehensible yet predictable word salad, describing Trump’s defeat in some weirdly ambivalent way. “No, I think there were serious problems in 2020. So, did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use,” he said.
Say what, now?
This kinda-sorta-denial marks an undeniable escalation from Vance’s previous evasions of the topic. When pressed during the vice presidential debate earlier this month, Vance deflected, saying he was “focused on the future.” Now, he appears unusually committed to Trump’s unsubstantiated narrative of a “stolen” election.
Vance didn’t stop there. Later that same day in North Carolina, he doubled down, claiming: “I think that big tech rigged the election in 2020. That’s my view.” This conspiracy theory lacks any credible evidence and has been repeatedly debunked by election officials and cybersecurity experts.
The Ohio senator’s comments reflect a normalized trend within the increasingly right-reaching Republican Party—a willingness to discard facts, undermine democratic institutions to appease Trump and his personality cult, and fill the public zeitgeist with whatever nonsense they can. By pushing ridiculous falsehoods and throwing rhetorical vomit into the atmosphere for people to dodge, Vance does his part in eroding public trust in America’s electoral system.
Vance’s transformation from Trump critic to ardent defender of the “Big Lie” is stark. In 2016, he compared Trump to Hitler. Now, he’s parroting Trump’s most dangerous rhetoric. This shift underscores the GOP’s descent into authoritarianism, where loyalty to Trump/Trumpism overrides any serious commitment to truth and democratic norms. Now, there’s no way back for Vance. Either he stays the course in his reach for power, or he will evaporate like dried spit on the side of the road. His entire political future is almost directly tied to the outcome of this election, which is an interesting predicament to have bound himself to.
The desperation behind these lies is evident. Having tied their political futures to Trump, figures like Vance have no path forward without maintaining the fiction of a stolen election. Each lie they tell or reinforce necessitates another, greater lie or reinforcement, and each conspiracy theory spawns weirder and wilder ones, creating a looping dumpster fire of misinformation.
Vance’s comments drew swift condemnation from the Harris campaign. As reported by The Guardian, spokesperson Matt Corridoni stated:
“JD Vance finally admitted he denies the 2020 election results. As Governor 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.” Even more than that, he recognizes Vance as fully malleable and thirsty for whatever drop of Trump sweat he can get.”
Voters must recognize these ridiculous claims for what they are: an existentially dangerous power grab that threatens the integrity of our electoral system. The future of our republic may well depend on rejecting such blatant falsehoods and those who propagate them.
Published: Oct 19, 2024 10:11 am