Former president donald trumprunning mate, senator. JD Vanceexpressed confidence Sunday 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 voter ID requirementswhich, according to him, makes elections in the decisive state “much safer”.
“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 has echoed repeatedly Trump’s baseless claims of a fraudulent 2020 election and argued that lawmakers would have legitimate grounds to fight the results. At the time, Trump and his allies filed a series of lawsuits in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results, but none succeeded due to a lack of evidence.
Ahead of the 2024 election, 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 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 Raffenspergera 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 last year were accused of extortion in connection with his efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case. A Georgia Court of Appeals paused the case until at least October.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
