Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio are both leading a legislative effort to symbolically absolve Donald Trump from any culpability in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
They separately stumped for Trump in New Hampshire and are slated to appear at an upcoming fundraiser for the former president in DC.
The Republican lawmakers each said they would not have certified the 2020 election results had they been Trump’s vice president, despite no evidence of fraud.
And, in a sign of what might be driving their recently shared behavior: Stefanik and Vance have both said they would be happy to serve under Trump in any capacity – including as his running mate.
“I’m proud to be a top surrogate,” Stefanik said during a Thursday appearance on CNN. “I would proudly serve in a future Trump administration.”
Vance, meanwhile, has also expressed interest in joining Trump on the ticket.
“If he asked me, I would certainly consider it,” he recently told CNN. “But I like being a senator.”
The veepstakes auditions are heating up on Capitol Hill as Trump steamrolls his way to the nomination, with Stefanik and Vance, who are both 39, largely at the center of the jockeying. And as Republican lawmakers maneuver to make themselves a more attractive candidate, they are reviving false claims about the 2020 election to rewrite the narrative about January 6 and clear Trump’s name as he faces potential political and legal fallout for his role on that day.
Rep. Tim Burchett, a Trump-friendly Republican lawmaker from Tennessee, acknowledged that some of his colleagues seem eager to prove their loyalty to Trump in hopes of joining him on the ticket, but said the competition has been nothing but friendly.
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