‘American People Are Sovereign’: Vance Claps Back at Reporter About SAVE America Act
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell /
Vice President JD Vance responded to concerns that the Trump administration is seeking to “nationalize elections” by pointing to a voter identification law currently being debated in the Senate.
Vance held a rally in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on Wednesday.
“If what you mean by ‘intervening in the election’ is that we want everybody to have a voter ID before voting in this country, yes, we should be doing that, to be clear,” Vance said in response to a question from a local reporter. The audience applauded in response, and some chanted “USA.”
A local reporter had cited concern that the federal government might “intervene” in the upcoming midterm election in the state, asking the vice president if he would “promise” no federal intervention. When Vance asked for clarification, the reporter brought up previous comments by President Donald Trump.
In a February interview with former FBI head Dan Bongino, Trump had said that Republicans “should take over the voting” in some places and “nationalize the voting,” citing concerns about election integrity.
Vance responded to the question by championing the SAVE America Act.
Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to launch debate on the bill, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and a valid photo ID to vote.
The Senate will hold a vote on the bill, preceded by a lengthy floor debate this week.
“The president and I have been working very hard, and we actually got a good vote yesterday in the United States Senate on the SAVE America Act, which is a very simple piece of legislation that does a number of things,” Vance said.
“But one of the things it does is actually establish this very simple principle that if you’re going to vote in a federal election, you ought to show identification before you do. So, I think that’s very much common sense.”
Those who believe in American sovereignty should support voter ID, Vance said.
“If you believe, as I do, that the American people are sovereign in their own country,” Vance said, “then you have to believe that their vote should be protected and the only way to fully protect their vote is to prevent fraudsters from coming and vote in American elections.”
“So, no, we don’t want to intervene in elections, but we certainly want to make elections safe and secure,” Vance said. “No. 1, because we want to make sure that the will of the voters is actually recognized and respected.”