Would-be running mates for former President Trump are facing a new litmus test as they audition for a spot on the Republican ticket: whether they would have certified the 2020 election results and how they would handle certifying votes in the future.
One by one in recent weeks, officials who are on the former president’s growing list of potential running mates have been asked whether they would have acted as then-Vice President Mike Pence did in certifying the 2020 results despite Trump’s pressuring him to reject the outcome.
Most have said they would have handled the situation differently or have evaded the question entirely, a nod to the importance of loyalty to Trump, who has continued to claim the 2020 election was fraudulent or rigged despite numerous courts throwing out challenges to the results.
“Clearly it’s going to become ‘The Apprentice: Political Edition,’” one Republican strategist told The Hill.
Trump had a falling out with Pence, his former vice president and two-time running mate, over the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Trump for weeks claimed his 2020 election loss was fraudulent and urged Pence to decertify the results or reject them that day and give states more time to present pro-Trump electors.
Pence was and has continued to be adamant that the vice president has no such power to overturn or reject election results, prompting Trump to call his then-vice president “naive” and suggest he lacked the courage needed to reject votes.
With Trump placing a premium on loyalty, those looking to join Trump on the ticket in November have sought to make clear they would be willing to act for Trump where Pence did not.
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The willingness of many potential Trump running mates to criticize or break with Pence’s handling of the 2020 election certification has not gone unnoticed among those close to the former vice president.
“Looks like these folks competing in the VP Pageant are okay with VP Kamala Harris rejecting GOP electoral votes in ‘24…Republican voters should not,” Marc Short, who served as Pence’s chief of staff, wrote on social media.
Pence has used the same logic to defend his action on Jan. 6.
“Under the Constitution, I had no right to change the outcome of our election,” Pence has said in multiple public speeches. “And Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when we beat them in 2024.”
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Former President Trump's Veepstakes have a new litmus test as they audition for a spot on his Republican ticket: whether they would have certified the 2020 election results and how they would handle certifying votes in the future. https://t.co/dA0VQIlyVG pic.twitter.com/ERR5DHpGA5
— The Hill (@thehill) March 12, 2024
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