Highlights
- JD Vance suggested that he would not have certified the 2020 election results if he was vice president.
- Vance claimed that he would not have certified the 2020 election results immediately.
- Vance said he would have demanded multiple slates of electors.
- Vance said that there were “irregularities” and a “breakdown of democratic will” during the 2020 elections.
- JD Vance encouraged Trump to embrace authoritarianism.
- Vance suggested that Trump should fire “every single midlevel bureaucrat” to implement a “de-wokeification program” amongst government staff.
- Vance suggested that Trump should ignore any Supreme Court ruling that stood in his way.
- Vance called for an investigation into a journalist who suggested that a Trump presidency would lead to a dictatorship.
- Vance claimed that Trump would not have become a dictator even if the fake electors re-elected him.
- JD Vance deflected Trump’s culpability for the insurrection.
- Vance introduced a resolution in the Senate that declared that Trump “did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”
- Vance claimed that Trump was not criminally culpable for the insurrection and that Trump only encouraged “peaceful protest.”
- Vance said he doubted that Pence’s life was in danger on January 6 and minimized Trump’s culpability for any attacks against Pence.
- Vance attacked social media companies for “censoring” Trump following January 6.
- Vance praised the Supreme Court’s decision to give Trump at least some immunity for his actions as president, which in turn delayed Trump’s election interference case.
- JD Vance attacked the House committee investigating the January 6 attack.
- Vance claimed that the committee was a “sham” and all for show.
- Vance said that the committee was about Democrats attacking their political enemies and called it a “political hit job” against Trump.
- JD Vance defended insurrectionists and complained about their prosecution.
- Vance said that many insurrectionists “did nothing wrong” on January 6.
- Vance claimed about the treatment of insurrectionists and referred to them as “political prisoners.”
- JD Vance downplayed the seriousness of the events on January 6.
- JD Vance halted the approval of federal judges because he thought Trump was unfairly targeted by the Department of Justice.
¶ Vance Suggested That He Would Not Have Certified The 2020 Election Results If He Were Vice President
¶ Vance Suggested That He Would Not Have Certified The 2020 Election Results If He Were Vice President
¶ Vance Claimed That The Election Results Should Not Have Been Certified Immediately
Vance Claimed That The 2020 Election Results Should Not Have Been Certified Immediately. According to ABC News, “In a contentious interview with ABC News ‘This Week’ anchor George Stephanopoulos, Vance -- a onetime Trump critic -- also doubled down on his views of the 2020 election, saying the results shouldn't have been immediately certified, and he went on to suggest Trump should ignore ‘illegitimate’ U.S. Supreme Court rulings.” [ABC News, 2/4/24]
¶ Vance Would Have Demanded Alternative Electors
Vance Said If He Had Been VP In 2020, He Would Have Demanded Multiple Slates Of Electors. According to ABC News, “’If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,’ he continued. ‘That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020. I think that's what we should have done.’ The Constitution makes no such provisions for this. There has been no confirmed evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 race, and the results were affirmed by local officials across the country, including many Republicans.” [ABC News, 2/4/24]
Vance Said That He Would Have Provided Alternate Electors After The 2020 Election. According to the New York Times, “HOST: Let’s say you were a Republican legislator in Pennsylvania. Do you think it would have been a good idea to say, ‘Under the rules of the election, Joe Biden won the most votes, but we’re going to vote to send a slate of Trump electors because Twitter censored the Hunter Biden story.’ VANCE: Do I think that it would have been an ultimately effective argument? HOST: No, do you think it would have been a good argument? VANCE: I think the entire post-2020 thing would have gone a lot better if there had actually been an effort to provide alternative slates of electors, and to force us to have that debate. I think it would’ve been a much better thing for the country. Do I think Joe Biden would still be president right now? Yeah, probably. But at least we would have had a debate.” [New York Times, 6/13/24]
Vance: “I Would Have Asked The States To Submit Alternative Slates Of Electors. That’s What I Would Have Done.” According to The Hill, “In a discussion Monday at the ‘All-In Podcast’ summit, the Republican vice presidential nominee was asked at least three times whether he would have certified the 2020 election results. ‘I would have asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors and let the country have the debate about what actually matters and what kind of an election that we have,’ Vance said when asked again whether he would have certified the election. Pressed on whether that means he would not have certified, Vance replied, ‘I would have asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors. That’s what I would have done.’” [The Hill, 9/10/24]
¶ Vance Suggested That The Results Of The 2020 Election Were Not Legitimate
Vance Said He Did Not Think That Voting Machines Rigged The 2020 Election, But That There Was “A Breakdown In Democratic Will.” According to the New York Times, “VANCE: My actual critique starts with the Molly Ball article in 2021 — that felt like bragging. I put that article in front of the average Trump-fan Republican voter in my hometown, and they say, ‘That is an illegitimate election.’ The argument is basically that there were a host of institutional actors, technology companies, various forms of censorship, that mobilized in 2020 in a way that they hadn’t in 2016. There was tech censorship. People were primed to push back against any October surprises. And look, October surprises are part of American democracy, and whether you think Hunter Biden is as major an issue as I do or disagree, in American democracy you let the voters decide. That was a way in which the basic democratic will of America was obstructed. I don’t see any reason to think that Dominion voting machines switched ballots, but there was a breakdown in democratic will.” [New York Times, 6/13/24]
Vance Claimed That Election Rules Were Changed At The Last Minute In 2020. According to the New York Times, “Point No. 2 is that the rules of the game were changed in the middle. When does a ballot have to be mailed in Pennsylvania to count under the election rules? That was changed. That was changed for Covid reasons, in a way that partially is the fault of the Republican National Committee — we weren’t prepared for it, Democrats were, and they took advantage of it.” [New York Times, 6/13/24]
¶ Vance Encouraged Trump To Embrace Authoritarianism
¶ Vance Proposed Implementing A “De-Wokeification Program” To Fire Any Civil Servants That Disagree With Trump And Ignore The Courts When They Try To Stop Him
Headline: “J.D. Vance Is A Dangerous Authoritarian The Only Coherent Aspect Of His Worldview Is A Lust For Power.” [New York Magazine, 5/4/22]
Vance Argued That Trump Should Fire “Every Single Midlevel Bureaucrat, Every Civil Servant In The Administrative State, Replace Them With Our People,” And Ignoring The Courts When They Try To Stop Him. According to Vanity Fair, “Vance described two possibilities that many on the New Right imagine—that our system will either fall apart naturally, or that a great leader will assume semi-dictatorial powers […]’I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left,’ he said. ‘And turn them against the left. We need like a de-Baathification program, a de-woke-ification program.’ ‘I think Trump is going to run again in 2024,’ he said.’“I think that what Trump should do, if I was giving him one piece of advice: Fire every single midlevel bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people.’ ‘And when the courts stop you,’ he went on, ‘;stand before the country, and say—‘ he quoted Andrew Jackson, giving a challenge to the entire constitutional order—‘the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.’ This is a description, essentially, of a coup.” [Vanity Fair, 4/20/22]
- Vance’s Suggestion, Which Was Essentially A Coup, Was A Version Of A Proposal Pushed By The “New Right” Blogger, Curtis Yarvin. According to the New Statesman, “The group is also associated with Curtis Yarvin, a 49-year-old reactionary blogger known for his concept of ‘the Cathedral,’ which describes the matrix of liberal institutions and media supposedly forcing a liberal ideology on America. Yarvin has also argued for a Caesar-like ‘national CEO, what’s called a dictator’ or, more recently, a monarch to take over the republic. Vance has already proposed a version of Yarvin’s much-touted policy known as Rage – Retire All Government Employees. Interviewed at the annual National Conservativism conference (NatCon) in Orlando last November, Vance told a Vanity Fair writer he would advise Trump, if he became president again in 2024, to ‘fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people’ – and defy the courts to enforce it. ‘This is a description, essentially, of a coup,’ the writer concluded.” [New Statesman, 7/27/22]
¶ Vance Called For A Journalist To Be INvestigated Just For Suggesting That A Trump Presidency Would Lead To A Dictatorship
¶ Journalist Robert Kagan Wrote In The Washington Post That A Second Trump Presidency Could Lead To A Dictatorship
Journalist Robert Kagan Wrote An Article Suggesting That A Trump Presidency Could Lead To A Dictatorship. According to The Hill, “Kagan argued that former President Trump will be the Republican presidential nominee, and disapproving Republicans will fall in line. ‘Votes are the currency of power in our system, and money follows, and by those measures, Trump is about to become far more powerful than he already is,’ Kagan wrote. Kagan argues that a second Trump presidency is likely, and the road to dictatorship is possible.” [The Hill, 12/8/23]
¶ Vance Called For The Attorney General And Secretary Of State To Investigate Kagan
Vance Sent A Letter To The Attorney General And Secretary Blinken, Calling For An Investigation Against Kagan. According to The Hill, “Vance sent the letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a response to the Nov. 30 column written by a Post contributing editor Robert Kagan, which warns readers, ‘A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable,’ and, ‘We should stop pretending.’” [The Hill, 12/8/23]
Vance Claimed That Kagan Was Trying To Incite An Insurrection And Create A Civil War. According to The Hill, “’Based on my review of public charging documents that the Department of Justice has filed in courts of law, I suspect that one or both of you might characterize this article as an invitation to ‘insurrection,’ a manifestation of criminal ‘conspiracy,’ or an attempt to bring about civil war,’ Vance’s letter said.” [The Hill, 12/8/23]
¶ Vance Defended Trump, Claiming That He Would Not Have Been A Dictator Even If He Was Elected Through False Electors
Vance Claimed That Trump Would Not Have Become A Dictator Even If The Fake Electors Re-Elected Him. According to the New York Times, “HOST: For those of us who don’t think that Donald Trump is about to become a dictator, it still seems like he has an appetite for constitutional crisis. Pursuing the Pence strategy might not have ended with Trump back in the White House. But it would have pushed America into a crisis whose only point would be to satisfy either the voters whose concerns you describe, or Trump himself. VANCE: Even under a circumstance where the alternative-electors thing works, and he’s president again, he would have served four years and retired and enjoyed his life and played golf. The idea that this sets off a sequence where Donald Trump becomes the dictator of America is completely preposterous. He was using the constitutional procedures. Now, your argument is that he was using them ineffectively, or maybe even illegitimately, but he was trying to take a constitutional process to its natural conclusion.” [New York Times, 6/13/24]
¶ Vance Deflected Trump’s Culpability In The January 6 Insurrection
VANCE INTRODUCED A RESOLUTION IN THE SENATE TO DECLARE THAT TRUMP DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE INSURRECTION
A Resolution Was Introduced In The House And Vance Introduced Companion Legislation In The Senate To Declare That Trump Did Not Participate In The Insurrection. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, “Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and several co-sponsors convened the briefing to announce a non-binding resolution declaring ‘former President Donald J. Trump did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or give aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.’ […] Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio sponsored a companion resolution in the Senate.” [Iowa Capital Dispatch, 2/6/24]
- The Resolution Was Aimed At Influencing Trump’s Ballot Eligibility. According to the New York Times, “The measure aims to influence courts and state election officials who are weighing whether Mr. Trump is eligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists, an issue that is casting a cloud over the primary season and as Mr. Trump closes in on the Republican nomination. Senator J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, is introducing a companion measure in the Senate.” [New York Times, 2/6/24]
VANCE DEFENDED TRUMP FOR HIS ROLE IN THE INSURRECTION AND CLAIMED THAT TRUMP DID NOTHING WRONG
Vance Argued That Trump Was Not Culpable For The Events On January 6
Vance On Trump’s Liability For The Violence Of January 6: “I Don’t Think That You Can Blame The President For The Bad Apples Who Committed Violence On That Day, And More Importantly, I Sure Don’t Think That He’s Criminally Culpable” According to WLWT5, “Jan. 6 and former President Donald Trump are factors in the race. How much is hard to quantify. But if criminally indicted, the Trump component would be undeniable and one area of rare agreement between the candidates. […] Ryan and Vance diverge at that point when it comes to Trump. ‘I don't think that you can blame the President for the bad apples who committed violence on that day,’ Vance told WLWT in an interview. ‘And more importantly, I sure don't think that he's criminally culpable.’” [WLWT5, 7/11/22]
VIDEO: Vance Said That Trump Was Encouraging People To “Protest Peacefully” And That January 6 Was Caused By “A Few Bad Apples.” According to Local 12 News via YouTube, “HOST Do you think Donald Trump is responsible for the January 6 attack? VANCE No, I don't. I mean, look, I think the president said very clearly, and I know the president and speak with him, he said, ‘protest peacefully.’ Of course, most people did protest peacefully. Most people did not commit acts of violence that day. So, no, I don't think that it ultimately falls on the president who said, ‘protest peacefully.’ I think that it falls on the few bad apples in the crowd who committed acts of violence.” [Local 12 News via YouTube, 11/2/22]
¶ Vance Claimed That Trump Was Following The Law With His Actions Preceding January 6
VIDEO: Vance Said That Preceding January 6 Trump Was Following The Constitution To Challenge Election Results. According to ABC News Live via YouTube, “VANCE: We have a constitutional process for challenging election results in this country. That's all that was happening on the run up to January the 6. The president was making, President Trump being, was making an argument that there were problems and there are ways to deal with those problems constitutionally. You guys act like Donald Trump was about to cross the Potomac River with the first Marine Division. It's crazy - nobody actually buys it.” [ABC News Live via YouTube, 1/19/24]
VIDEO: Vance Said Trump Was Justified Legally In His Actions Leading Up To January 6. According to ABC News Live via YouTube, “HOST: He went against all legal advice. And also advisers told him not to act on powers that they pointed out that he just didn't have. And he did it anyway. VANCE Well, he didn't go against all legal advice because I know a number of lawyers who think the president was justified in the run up to January the sixth.” [ABC News Live via YouTube, 1/19/24]
¶ Vance Said That Pence’s Life Was Not Seriously In Danger On January 6 And Minimized Trump’s Culpability
Vance Said He Was “Truly Skeptical That Mike Pence’s Life Was Ever In Danger” On January 6. According to The Hill, “Collins said that Biden did not approve ‘of the chance to hang his vice president and didn’t not call his vice president when their life was in danger on Capitol Hill’ when asking again if Vance had any ‘pause’ on potentially being Trump’s vice president. Vance noted earlier that he has not spoken to Trump about the possibility of being his running mate. ‘Okay, well, I’m truly skeptical that Mike Pence’s life was ever in danger. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time,’ Vance replied. Collins interjected, saying she thinks ‘Mike Pence would disagree’ before Vance continued.” [The Hill, 5/1/24]
Vance Said That The Idea That Trump Endangered Lives On January 6 Was “Absurd.” According to The Hill, “’And a lot of folks the Democratic Party, Kaitlan, act as if January the 6th was the scariest moment of their lives,’ Vance continued. ‘I think, look, January 6 was a bad day. It was a riot. But the idea that Donald Trump endangered anyone’s lives when he told them to protest peacefully, it’s just absurd.’” [The Hill, 5/1/24]
Vance Said It Was Not Trump’s Fault If Rioters Were Chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” According to The Hill, “Collins then noted that some of the rioters were chanting ‘Hang Mike Pence!’ on Jan. 6, 2021. The vice president was in the Capitol that day to oversee the certification of the 2020 election when a mob stormed the building. ‘Well, Kaitlan, did a few people say some bad things? Sure. But do we blame Donald Trump for every bad thing that’s ever been said by a participant in American democracy? I think that’s an absurd standard,’ Vance replied.” [The Hill, 5/1/24]
¶ Vance Chastised Social Media Companies For Suspending Trump’s Social Media After January 6
VIDEO Vance Chastized Social Media Companies For “Censoring” Trump After January 6. According to the Real America Show via Rumble, “VANCE It's also coming from our biggest corporations, too. I mean, big technology making it impossible for normal people to speak their mind - all the way from the sitting president of the United States censored after January 6, to normal middle class Americans who are critical of the policies of our government – from Covid to everything else - we are living in a society where the ruling class is making it impossible for conservatives to speak their mind.” [Real America Show via Rumble, 10/25/21]
¶ Vance Praised The Supreme Court’s Presidential Immunity Decision, WHich Delayed Trump’s Election Interference Case
Vance Praised The Supreme Court Presidential Immunity Decision. According to Vance via Twitter, “A massive win, not just for Trump but the rule of law. I’m still digesting but this may well destroy all of Jack Smith’s case against the president.” [Vance via Twitter, 7/1/24]
¶ The Supreme Court Gave Trump At Least Partial Immunity For Actions He Took As President
The Supreme Court Ruled That Trump Could Not Be Prosecuted For Actions He Took As President. According to Reuters, “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president in a landmark decision recognizing for the first time any form of presidential immunity from prosecution. The justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, threw out a lower court's decision that had rejected Trump's claim of immunity from federal criminal charges involving his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. The six conservative justices were in the majority, while its three liberal members dissented.” [Reuters, 7/1/24]
¶ The Supreme Court Decision Delayed Trump’s Election Interference Trial
The Supreme Court Decision Delayed Trump’s Election Interference Trial. According to NBC News, “The Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision will further delay former President Donald Trump's Washington criminal case related to his efforts to stop the transfer of power in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, virtually guaranteeing that Trump's trial won't start before Election Day.” [NBC News, 7/1/24]
¶ Vance Attacked The House Committee Investigating The January 6 Attack
¶ Vance Attacked The Credibility Of The January 6 Committee
Vance Said That The January 6 Committee Was A “Sham.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “If the January 6 committee was anything more than a sham it would look into the role of Ray Epps. Kudos to @DarrenJBeattie and team.” [Vance via Twitter, 12/18/21]
AUDIO Vance Called The January 6 Committee “Fake” And A “Sham.” According to WHK-AM via SoundCloud, “VANCE I think what people don't realize about the fake January 6 committee, is that it's completely not interested in actually identifying, you know, what caused January the 6. They're not asking any of the tough questions that should be asked about that day. Like, for example, was anybody in the FBI in the crowd? Right? That's been asked of the FBI leadership. The FBI leadership has refused to answer. But more importantly in some ways is the text messages that they're subpoenaing. I have friends aside from Don Jr. who have had their text messages subpoenaed by this January the 6 committee - they're being leaked to the media. And so it's not really about discovering or identifying anything. It's really about harassing people who supported Donald Trump, including members of his own family. So I think it's a sham, it's not going to uncover anything useful.” [WHK-AM via SoundCloud, 5/5/22]
Vance Called The January 6 Committee Hearings A “Literal Show Trial.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “Literal show trial. Quote Tweet: @bpolitics – The House Jan. 6 committee is considering holding televised hearings on the Capitol riot during prime evening viewing hours.” [Vance via Twitter, 1/4/22]
¶ Vance Claimed That The January 6 Committee Was Only An Excuse For Democrats To Attack Their Political Enemies
Vance Said That The January 6 Investigation Was An Excuse For Democrats To “Bully & Torture Their Political Opponents.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “The fraudulent J6 Select Committee is the real assault on Democracy. Dems are using it to bully & torture their political opponents. The weak Republicans who can't see this are part of the problem. A GOP Majority MUST fight fire with fire & investigate BLM's Summer of riots.” [Vance via Twitter, 1/5/22]
Vance Claimed That Democrats Were Using The January 6 Committee To “Attack Their Political Enemies.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “The democrats who are using it, using the January 6 committee to go after their political enemies. They’re not trying to look at what actually happened on January the 6. They’re trying to attack their political enemies. The other thing they’re trying to do is form the basis for a new Patriot Act, which was a mistake when it was passed, that will be used against American citizens over the next decade if we allow it to happen.” [Vance via Twitter, 1/5/22]
AUDIO Vance Claimed That The January 6 Committee Was Meant To Harass People Who “Oppose The Deep State” And Punish “Basic Political Speech.” According to the Mark Levin Show via SoundCloud, “LEVIN This January 6 committee, JD Vance, I mean the Soviet nature of it, the way it’s set up, the leaking, of course our Pravda media getting behind it. And now of course the effort to criminalize the politics, it’s really absolutely unparalleled […] VANCE Yeah, it’s really crazy. And the leaking is maybe the most absurd part of it, Mark. Because if you actually listen to what these people are saying - why are they leaking private text messages that are having nothing to do with January 6? Why are they leaking videos of Josh Hawley at the U.S. Capitol? They’re doing it, explicitly to embarrass people. You know, the idea here is that if you dare defy the deep state in this country what they’re going to do is not just try to beat you, not just try and vote you out of office, they’re going to embarrass you, they’re going to harass you, and they’re going to even criminalize basic political speech. This is really, really dark stuff. […] This is fundamental corruption. The country needs to fight back against it.” [Mark Levin Show via SoundCloud, 7/27/22]
¶ Vance Claimed That The January 6 Committee Was A “Political Hit Job” Against Trump
Vance Said That The January 6 Investigation Was A “Political Hit Job” Against Trump. According to the Associated Press, “Ryan said Vance’s position didn’t square with his failure to take seriously the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, where members of the Capitol Police were injured or died. Vance said the Jan. 6 Committee investigating the siege ‘has shown from the very beginning that it’s not interested in the truth, that it’s interested in a political hit job’ against Trump.” [Associated Press, 10/17/22]
¶ Vance Defended Insurrectionists And Complained About Their Prosecution
¶ Vance Claimed That Many Insurrectionists “Did Absolutely Nothing Wrong” On January 6
AUDIO Vance Claimed That The People At The January 6 Insurrection “Did Absolutely Nothing Wrong.” According to America First with Sebastian Gorka via SoundCloud, “VANCE: I think that’s much of what the political prosecutions in the wake of January 6 actually look like. I mean, look, obviously there were some bad actors and people who beat up police or were violent. We gotta do something with those folks. But a lot of the people in jail, it looks like, did absolutely nothing wrong other than walk into the Capitol after it was already opened by the Capitol Police.” [America First with Sebastian Gorka via SoundCloud, 7/13/21]
¶ Vance Complained About The Treatment And Conditions Of Insurrectionists
Vance Complained That The Prison Conditions Of Insurrectionists Was Not Bigger News. According to Vance via Twitter, “This should be front page news everywhere. Quote Tweet: @BeeLeeLiberty - Dear fellow Americans: I never thought I'd write a letter like this, but we’re living in very different times. This is my cry for help. My name is Nathan DeGrave, and as a non violent participant at the Jan 6 rally, I’ve spent the last 9 months detained” [JD Vance, 10/30/21]
¶ Vance Lied By Claiming That Dozens Of Jailed Insurrectionists Had Not Been Charged With A Crime
Headline: Fact Check: J.D. Vance Falsely Claims Dozens Of Jailed Capitol Protestors Haven’t Been Charged With A Crime [CNN, 1/8/22]
Vance Falsely Claimed That “There Are Dozens Of People Who Protested On J6 Who Haven’t Even Been Charged With A Crime Yet Are Being Mistreated In DC Prisons.” According to CNN, “Vance made a significant false claim on Thursday about legal proceedings against people who allegedly participated in the Capitol insurrection last year. On the first anniversary of the January 6, 2021 riot, Vance tweeted out a link to a website that encourages donations to people who have been accused of involvement in the attack on the Capitol. And Vance wrote: ‘There are dozens of people who protested on J6 who haven't even been charged with a crime yet are being mistreated in DC prisons. A friend suggested the below link if you're able to support them.’ Vance's claims are false. Every alleged Capitol rioter who is being held in jail to await trial has been charged with a crime. Moreover, every one of the dozens of defendants listed on the very donations page Vance was promoting has been charged with a crime.” [CNN, 1/8/22]
Vance Appeared To Implicitly Concede That His Claim Was False By Posting A New Tweet That Read “*Convicted (Not Charged)” But Did Not Delete The False Tweets Or Explicitly Say He Was Wrong. According to CNN, “More than 90 minutes after his false tweets, Vance appeared to implicitly concede that he wasn't correct to claim that dozens of Capitol riot prisoners ‘haven't even been charged with a crime’ -- posting a new tweet that read, ‘*convicted (not charged).’ But Vance did not delete either that false initial tweet or the false subsequent tweet claiming the prisoners have been ‘accused of nothing,’ and he did not explicitly say that he had been wrong.” [CNN, 1/8/22]
¶ Vance Shared A Link To Send Funds To Insurrectionists, Claiming That They Were “Political Prisoners”
Vance Tweeted A Link To A Fund For People Imprisoned Due To Their Crimes On January 6 Calling Them “Political Prisoners” And Claiming, “Their Captivity Is An Assault On Democracy.” According to Vance via Twitter, “There are dozens of people who protested on J6 who haven’t even been charged with a crime yet are being mistreated in DC prisons. A friend suggested the below link if you’re able to support them. PatriotFreedomProject.com *Even if* the very worst of the Democrats’ claims about J6 are true (they’re not), it is an insult to all of us that so many people are rotting in prison without being offered a speedy trial. These people are political prisoners, and their captivity is an assault on democracy.” [Twitter, @JDVance1, 1/6/22]
¶ Vance Complained About The Prosecution Of Insurrectionists
Vance Claimed That The Real Assault On Democracy Was That “Non-Violent Protestors On January The 6” Were In Prison For Their Actions. According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “Tomorrow is the anniversary of January the 6, the most traumatic moment in the history of American democracy, so traumatic in fact that the left has felt the need to talk about it 8 times a day for the past year. it is often framed as an assault on our democracy. But the assault on our democracy that too few people are willing to talk about is the fact that dozens of non-violent protestors on January the 6 are being held in disgusting conditions in Washington D.C. jails.” [Vance via Twitter, 1/5/22]
Vance Criticized The Prosecution Of “Nonviolent Protestors From January 6.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “Why are nonviolent protestors from January 6 sitting in prison while a guy who repeatedly instigated the incursion into the Capitol walks around free? A couple of possible explanations, all of them bad.” [Vance via Twitter, 10/26/21]
Vance Said The Sentences Of January 6 Insurrectionists Should Have Been Shorter In Comparison To A Person Convicted Of Voluntary Manslaughter. According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “I would like to hear a single good argument for why a violent criminal who killed an innocent father deserves less time than these J6 offenders, many of whom aren’t even accused of violence.” [Vance via Twitter, 9/2/23]
¶ Vance Downplayed The Seriousness Of The Events On January 6
¶ Vance Downplayed The Seriousness Of The Insurrection
Vance Said That Calling January 6 A Terrorist Attack Was “Just Insane.” According to Vance via his personal Twitter, “Calling J6 a ‘terrorist attack’ is just insane. And from 60 Minutes, nothing about the FBI entrapment in Michigan or the fact that the bureau colluded with the media to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story. Time to investigate the corrupt leadership of this organization.” [Vance via Twitter, 4/26/22]
Vance Said That A Year And A Half After The Insurrection That It Did Not, “Affect Much Of Our Politics Today.” According to WKBN27, ‘“I think most people recognize that of course Jan. 6 was not a good day in our country’s history but it was a year and a half ago. It doesn’t affect much of our politics today,’ said Vance.” [WKBN27, 6/22/22]
VIDEO: Vance Said That Calling The Events On January 6 An Insurrection Is A “Gross Overstatement.” According to ABC News Live via YouTube, “VANCE: I mean, you call it insurrection - I think that's a gross overstatement of what happened on January 6, and I think that people are ready to move beyond January the 6 and focus on the future.” [ABC News Live, 1/19/24]
¶ Vance Halted The Approval Of Federal Judges Because He Thought Trump Was Unfairly Targeted By The Department Of Justice
¶ Vance Held Up Judicial Nominations To PRotest How Trump Was Being TReated By The Department Of Justice
Vance Said He Would Delay All Justice Department Nominations To Protest The “Political Prosecution” Of Trump By The Department Of Justice. According to Cleveland.com, “Vance last year announced he’d delay approval of all Justice Department nominees to protest ‘the unprecedented political prosecution’ of former President Donald Trump by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.” [Cleveland.com, 3/7/24]
¶ Vance Called The Prosecution Of Trump’s Various Legal Issues “Banana Republic Stuff”
Vance Called The Prosecution Of Trump, “Banana Republic Stuff” And Used That To Justify His Holding Up Of Nominations. According to Cleveland.com, “Trump faces federal charges in Washington, D.C. for attempting to overturn results of the 2020 presidential election, and in Florida for improperly handling classified documents after he left office. President Joe Biden says he is not influencing the Justice Department’s actions. ‘This is crazy banana republic stuff and I will not stand for it,’ Vance declared on the Senate floor. ‘I will continue to hold these nominations. I will continue to push back against the politicization of justice.’” [Cleveland.com, 3/7/24]