With right-wing media’s help, JD Vance repeatedly attacked Pennsylvania’s election integrity

On supposed election fairness, Vance told Breitbart in 2021: “I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania.”

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published

Before Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance became a regular presence in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, he was using right-wing media to attack the Keystone State’s election integrity. With right-wing media’s assistance, Vance portrayed Pennsylvania’s election systems as being unfair and called for the Department of Justice to investigate the state. 

Vance also said of supposed election fairness: “I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania, Michigan, some of these other states. But, of course, it affects us if Pennsylvania has a broken election, especially at the national level.”

Right-wing media have frequently promoted claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged or stolen, with some outlets and figures particularly targeting Pennsylvania after it played a pivotal role in the last presidential election. That rhetoric has created an environment where politicians are incentivized to push election denying rhetoric. 

Vance has a history of election denialism, which is why he was a natural choice as Trump’s running mate. (Vance’s predecessor has famously not endorsed Trump.) Prior to this election cycle, right-wing media helped Vance single out Pennsylvania as a state with supposedly unfair elections. Here is a look. 

JD Vance claimed middle America is “worried” that Pennsylvania didn’t have a “fair” election. Breitbart is a right-wing website that has been home to pro-Trump rhetoric, including about the 2020 election. 

Vance gave an hour-plus interview to the outlet in June 2021 and was asked by Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow what “the top concerns are” with “people in the middle of the country right now.” He replied by singling out Pennsylvania for supposedly not having a “fair” election. 

From a Breitbart video posted on June 29, 2021

ALEX MARLOW (BREITBART NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF): What do you think is resonating with people in the middle of the country right now? What do you think the top concerns are?

JD VANCE: Well, the few things I hear the most about — I mean, one, I think people definitely care about having solid, safe, free, and fair elections in the country. Right? They're definitely worried, especially about what happened in Pennsylvania and similar states, that things just weren't fair, right? That a different set of rules was applied to one group of voters versus another. That's a big concern. Maybe the single biggest concern that I have is a fear that the First Amendment is fundamentally under assault.

Marlow later told Vance that “election integrity” is one of his top issues. 

Vance called on the Department of Justice to investigate Pennsylvania for its handling of the elections: “We can do that if we actually just put our people in places of power.” Vance later returned to the topic of Pennsylvania with Breitbart when discussing his desire for Republicans to “take over the administrative state” and “fire the people who are not aligned.” He then focused on the Department of Justice and Pennsylvania, stating: “Why don't we investigate what was happening in Pennsylvania? … We can do that if we actually just put our people in places of power.” (Republicans, including Vance and Trump, have repeatedly spoken about reshaping the federal bureaucracy if they win.) 

From a Breitbart video posted on June 29, 2021

JD VANCE: Of course, the FBI was investigating him for bogus crimes the entire time that he was president. The Department of Justice is a very powerful institution if we're willing to use it. Right? Why don't we investigate all of the crazy things that are happening in corporate America? Why don't we investigate what was happening in Pennsylvania? Why don't we use the Department of Justice for some purpose? We can do that if we actually just put our people in places of power.

Vance on Pennsylvania’s election system: “I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania.” Ron Verb is a conservative talk show host in Ohio who hosted Vance on July 26, 2022. (At the time, Verb had recently gained attention for expressing concern about Vance’s campaign against Tim Ryan, whom Verb said he would “never” support.) 

During their interview, Verb praised Vance for talking about fixing supposed voting problems. That set Vance up to complain that “the fake news media, they always say, well, if you're concerned about the 2020 election, you're a conspiracy theorist.” He then attacked the state of Pennsylvania, saying: “We've got to make sure that if Pennsylvania has an election that is illegal according to Pennsylvania's own constitution, that that problem is fixed. And I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania, Michigan, some of these other states. But, of course, it affects us if Pennsylvania has a broken election, especially at the national level.” 

JD Vance on Pennsylvania’s election system: “I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania"

From the July 26, 2022, edition of WKBN's Ron Verb 

RON VERB (HOST): I watched the last Republican debate when it was all of you guys and I thought you won that debate overall. I thought your answer when it came to how we need to fix some of the things that took place during the last Trump election, some of the changes that were made, we need to make sure that those changes don't stay in place, was an articulate answer. Could you give that to our audience here today, when you're saying, OK — let — here's what we need to deal with so this doesn't happen again?

JD VANCE: Well, absolutely. And the thing that I always try to do is be specific because the fake news media, they always say, well, if you're concerned about the 2020 election, you're a conspiracy theorist, and we know that it was the most secure election in the history of America — that's what they always say. And what I try to do, Ron, is just point out the specifics of what happened. So number one, we know that using the pretext of COVID that a lot of these states changed their rules for counting and casting ballots in a way that was in violation of their own state constitution. We have got to fix that. 

We've got to make sure that if Pennsylvania has an election that is illegal according to Pennsylvania's own constitution, that that problem is fixed. And I'm proud to say here in Ohio, we're in a much better place than they are in Pennsylvania, Michigan, some of these other states. But, of course, it affects us if Pennsylvania has a broken election, especially at the national level.