Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, on Sunday expressed confidence in Georgia’s election security, a contrast to Trump’s recent attacks on Republican state officials, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
During an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Vance was pressed about how comfortable he is with the progress made by the Republican National Committee and Republican-led states to ensure a fair election in November as Trump continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election results.
Vance pointed to Georgia’s voter ID requirements, which he said make elections in the swing state “much more secure.”
“I think we have some good lawsuits and some good legal changes going on across the country,” he said. “The RNC was more aggressive about this in 2024 than it was in 2020.”
“The basic principle here is that every American citizen’s vote must count. But if you’re not a U.S. citizen and you’re not voting legally, your vote shouldn’t count, right?” he added. “It’s a kind of common sense that the Republican Party believes in.”
Vance repeatedly repeated Trump’s baseless claims about a fraudulent 2020 election and argued that lawmakers would have legitimate reasons to fight the results. At the time, Trump and his allies filed a series of lawsuits in an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, but none of them succeeded due to a lack of evidence.
Ahead of the 2024 elections, the Trump campaign and the RNC have committed to recruiting 100,000 volunteers and lawyers to monitor votes in swing states.
On a publish to his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Trump criticized Kemp and Raffensperger, who fought against Trump’s 2020 efforts to delegitimize the presidential election results. Trump wrote that Raffensperger should “do his job” and “make sure this election is not stolen,” while also telling Kemp to “focus your efforts on fighting crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party.” .
“He should seek UNITY, not retribution, especially against the man who won him the nomination through endorsement and, without whom, he could never have defeated Stacey Abrams,” Trump wrote, referring to Kemp’s Democratic election rival for governor of Georgia in 2018 and 2022. race.
In a phone call to Kemp weeks after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, Trump tried to pressure Kemp to call a special session of the state Legislature in an effort to overturn Biden’s narrow victory in the state.
On January 2, 2021, Trump also called Raffensperger, a Republican, urging Georgia’s top election official to “find” the votes to overturn Biden’s victory in the swing state.
Kemp rejected Trump’s attacks in a post to X later Saturday, saying he’s focused on winning in November and “saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats — not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans or dwelling on the past.”
“You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of this,” he wrote.
Raffensperger also refuted Trump’s attacks in another post on X saying the state elections were “secure.”
“The winner here in November will reflect the will of the people. History has taught us that this type of message does not sell well here in Georgia, sir,” he wrote.
Trump and 18 co-defendants were charged last year with racketeering in connection with their efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case. A Georgia appeals court has put the case on hold until at least October.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
