Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has already exposed himself as a threat to the Constitution and to the peaceful transition of power in the United States, warned former Jan. 6 investigator Thomas Joscelyn in an analysis for The Bulwark.
Vance, Joscelyn reminded readers, is only where he is because Trump threw out his previous vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to follow the Constitution: "Pence has repeatedly explained to the American people that Trump forced him to choose on January 6, 2021: He could either remain loyal to the U.S. Constitution or he could serve Trump. He could not do both. Pence chose the Constitution."
By contrast, Joscelyn noted, Vance has consistently said — and most recently in an interview with The New York Times' Ross Douthat — that he would have intervened to block the certification, illegally throwing out electors in battleground states won by President Joe Biden where Trump was baselessly alleging fraud against him — choosing Trump over the Constitution.
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"Vance suggested that if he had been in Pence’s shoes after the 2020 election, he would not have merely overseen the formal counting of Biden’s legitimate electoral votes during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021 but instead would have tried 'to marshal alternative slates of electors' from the states. 'The entire post-2020 thing would have gone a lot better if there had actually been an effort to provide alternative slates of electors,' Vance claimed," wrote Joscelyn.
Vance went on to falsely claim this was "a constitutional process."
"Trump’s gambit would have subverted the Constitution, just as former Vice President Pence has explained. As vice president, Pence had no constitutional or statutory power to refuse to count the states’ legitimate, certified electors."
The simple fact, wrote Joscelyn, is that this precludes any sober observer from trusting Vance — who until just a few years ago blasted Trump as "America's Hitler" — to execute the lawful duties of office.
"Vance would have us believe that Trump, after successfully overturning an election with Vance’s assistance, would have meekly given up his grip on power," concluded Joscelyn. "No American who remains loyal to the U.S. Constitution could be so indifferent to Trump’s autocratic aspirations. Nor should we give Trump — and Vance — a second chance to end our constitutional form of government."
