During a debate between Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance (R-OH) and Democratic candidate Governor Tim Walz (D-MN), a question regarding whether Vance would challenge the 2024 election results quickly shifted to a broader discussion about censorship and Big Tech.
Moderator Norah O’Donnell asked Vance, "You have said you would not have certified the last presidential election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors. That has been called unconstitutional and illegal. Would you again seek to challenge this year’s election results, even if every governor certifies the results?"
Vance responded by redirecting the conversation to concerns about "big technology companies silencing their fellow citizens." He highlighted what he views as a larger threat than those raised by Democrats, emphasizing issues with censorship and misinformation control, which he attributed to Kamala Harris, calling it "a much bigger threat to democracy than anything we’ve seen" in recent decades.
Vance criticized Harris for engaging in censorship at what he described as "an industrial scale" and downplayed former President Donald Trump’s influence on the January 6th Capitol insurrection by comparing it to Democratic concerns over Russian interference in the 2016 election. This interference included purchasing Facebook ads, which a Republican-led Senate committee concluded did occur to benefit Trump’s candidacy.
Governor Walz countered Vance’s points, stating, "January 6th was not Facebook ads," and accused Vance of presenting “revisionist history.” The debate’s tension heightened as Vance referred to the Supreme Court case Murthy v. Missouri, which involved accusations that the Biden administration had coerced tech platforms into censorship. The Court ruled in favor of the Biden administration on the grounds of standing, but also questioned the connection between government outreach and tech platform moderation decisions.
Walz attempted to refocus the debate on the original question, asking Vance if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance avoided a direct answer, stating, "Tim, I’m focused on the future,” and redirected the question towards Kamala Harris’s alleged censorship following the 2020 Covid situation, leading Walz to describe Vance’s reply as a “damning non-answer.”
The exchange continued with Vance accusing Harris of wanting to "use the power of government and Big Tech to silence people from speaking their minds." Vance juxtaposed this with a quote from Trump, who recently suggested that individuals criticizing the judiciary should face jail time.
Walz responded by invoking the commonly misinterpreted legal principle of not shouting fire in a crowded theatre, which pertains to unprotected speech. Vance argued back, stating that criticizing government policies, such as mask mandates for toddlers, is a right protected for all Americans, contrasting it with shouting fire.
Concluding the exchange, Walz stated, "I don’t run Facebook. This is not a debate; it’s not anything anywhere other than in Donald Trump’s world," pointing out the divergence from the initial topic to broader issues of censorship and free speech.
