Which Republicans refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results?
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is just one of several top Republicans who are refusing to commit to accepting the outcome of the 2024 election, raising concerns about a repeat of the Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol after President Joe Biden’s win in 2020.
Scott, a potential vice presidential nominee, repeatedly declined to say whether he would accept this November’s results during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, instead emphasizing his excitement for former President Donald Trump to return to the office.
“At the end of the day, the 47th president of the United States will be Donald Trump. And I’m excited to get back to low inflation, low unemployment,” Scott said when host Kristen Welker asked if he would accept the results of the 2024 election, “bottom line.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed falsely that the 2020 election was rigged and that he won states he did not win. In recent interviews with Time magazine, Trump said that while he did not think there would be violence if he lost again, he said that it “always depends on the fairness of the election.”
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In 2020, Scott did vote to certify the presidential results, and he said former Vice President Mike Pence “absolutely” did the right thing on Jan. 6 during a presidential primary debate last year. But now, Scott and other potential Trump running mates are refusing to say whether they would accept this year’s election results no matter the outcome.
Other Republican vice presidential nominees refusing to commit to accept 2024 election results
On CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum also sidestepped questions about whether he thinks there could be political violence if Trump loses this year. Instead, he too said that he is “looking forward to next January when Vice President Harris certifies the election for Donald Trump.”
In addition to Scott and Burgum, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, said in January that she would “see if this is a legal and valid election” before committing to voting to certify the 2024 election results. And Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla, declined to commit to certifying the 2028 election results if he were vice president at an Axios event. Stefanik, Donalds, and Burgum have all been mentioned as potential Trump vice president picks.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Top Republicans refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results