In response to Donald Trump claiming that Mike Pence “couldn’t cross the line” to stop the certification of the 2020 election, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump picked his current far-right MAGA running mate because he knows JD Vance would ‘cross the line’ that Mike Pence wouldn’t – and put our entire democracy at risk for Trump’s selfish unchecked ego. Let’s be clear: Trump lost by over 7 million votes in 2020, and voters are ready to give him the same experience again this November.”

NEW: Donald Trump claimed that Mike Pence “couldn’t cross the line” to stop the certification of the 2020 election – which he lost.

Donald Trump: “[Mike Pence] couldn’t cross the line of doing what was right, in my opinion, some people would disagree with that […] I wish he would have had the stamina, maybe courage, maybe both, to go further.” 

Trump has continued to promise to be a dictator on “day one,” won’t stop echoing dictators, and has warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses in November.

New York Times: “The book includes at least one menacing threat. Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta, is shown sitting across the Resolute Desk from Mr. Trump, a tall glass of soda in front of him. ‘He told me that there was nobody like Trump on Facebook,’ the former president writes. ‘But at the same time, and for whatever reason, steered it against me. We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison.’”

Washington Post: “Trump pledges to jail opponents, baselessly suggests election will be stolen from him”

Edward-Isaac Dovere, CNN: “Many people have lost American presidential elections over the last 230 years – Trump is the only one to say about violence if he loses ‘it depends.’”

NBC News: “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election”

The Atlantic: “Trump Says He’ll Be a Dictator on ‘Day One’”

Trump: “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what – it will be fixed, it will be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore.”

Vance: “I think what Donald Trump is simply saying is we ought to investigate the prior administration.”

Associated Press: “Trump declines to rule out abusing power to seek retribution if he returns to the White House”

Washington Post: “Trump calls political enemies ‘vermin,’ echoing dictators Hitler, Mussolini”

The Guardian: “Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again.”

Trump continues to celebrate and promise pardons for January 6 insurrectionists, who he calls “hostages” and “patriots”…

MSNBC: “Trump vows to pardon Jan. 6 defendants on ‘Day One’ if he wins the presidential election”

Washington Post: “Trump vows pardons, government apology to Capitol rioters if elected”

Rachel Scott, ABC News: “140 police officers were assaulted [on January 6]. Their injuries included broken bones, at least one officer lost an eye, one had two cracked ribs, two smashed spinal discs, another had a stroke. Were the people who assaulted those 140 officers, including those I just mentioned, ‘patriots’ who deserve pardons?”

[Trump refuses to answer]

Scott: “But sir, my question is on those rioters who assaulted officers. Would you pardon those people?”

Donald Trump: “Oh absolutely I would. If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”

Scott: “They’ve been convicted.”

Trump: “Those people were treated very harshly… nobody was killed on January 6. But I think that the people of January 6 were treated very unfairly… they were there to complain about an election, and you know it’s very interesting, the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to.”

The Hill: “Trump describes imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters as ‘hostages’”

TIME: “Trump has sought to recast the insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. ‘I call them the J-6 patriots,’ Trump tells TIME. When asked whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says: ‘Yes, absolutely.’”

NBC News: “Former President Donald Trump promised Wednesday night that if he is elected he will pardon a ‘large portion’ of the people convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.”

Trump: “January 6, it was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to. And they were there proud, they were there with love in their heart. That was an unbelievable — and it was a beautiful day.”

…while his running mate JD Vance downplays the violence on January 6.

The Hill: “JD Vance says he is ‘skeptical’ Pence’s life was in danger on Jan. 6”

Politico: “[Vance] downplayed the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, when Pence was forced to evacuate the building as rioters called for his hanging.”

Trump is still pushing lies about his loss by over 7 million votes in the 2020 election. Vance is right there with him – they are both casting doubt on this November’s results.

New York Times: “[Trump] has baselessly and publicly cast doubt about the fairness of the 2024 election about once a day, on average, since he announced his candidacy for president.”

Associated Press: “[Trump] is flooding the airwaves and his social media platform with distortions, misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories about his defeat.”

NBC News: “Re-litigating the 2020 election, repeating false claims it was stolen and casting aspersions on the security of mail voting remain major fixtures for [Trump] on the stump. … He regularly refers to the 2020 election as ‘rigged’ on his social media channels.”

HuffPost: “[Vance] said he would accept a Biden win only if he considered the election to be legitimate. … Vance’s comments illustrate a new tactic by Republican lawmakers, who are now placing conditions on accepting election results.”

New York Times: “J.D. Vance Says He Would Accept the Election Results, With a Caveat”

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. … [Trump] was trying to take a constitutional process to its natural conclusion.

“I think it would’ve been extraordinarily disappointing to a whole host of people that I care a lot about if Trump had just taken it [and conceded the 2020 election before January 6].”

Vance: “No real Republican with any credibility in the party is still blaming [Trump for January 6].”

ABC News: “JD Vance says [he] wouldn’t have certified 2020 race until states submitted pro-Trump electors”

New York Times: “[Vance] has said that, unlike Vice President Mike Pence in 2020, he would have helped Mr. Trump overturn the results, by accepting Trump electors that had not been elected by voters.”