Pence: ‘The Georgia election was not stolen’

INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Pence said Wednesday that the Georgia election was not stolen in 2020, leaning into his role on Jan. 6, days after Donald Trump’s indictment for his attempts to overturn the election results in the state. 

"The Georgia election was not stolen and I had no right to overturn the election on Jan. 6," said Pence, speaking in Indianapolis at a gathering for state lawmakers at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The former vice president’s remarks — his first since the indictment came down — mark a new full-court press from Pence in recent days surrounding his certification of the 2020 election results. They also echo those of Pence ally and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week, and set up a potential fault line at the Aug. 23 GOP debate in Milwaukee.

“No one is above law,” Pence added. “And the president and all those implicated are entitled to the presumption of innocence.”

In response to a question from an audience member about how he might win over Trump voters, Pence said “I hope he comes” to next week’s debate. He referenced his experience in the 2020 vice presidential debate, saying the plexiglass wall that separated him from Kamala Harris “wasn’t even tall enough to stop a fly.”

Trump has not yet announced whether he’ll attend the debate after declining to sign the RNC’s debate pledge.

In Iowa last week, Pence fielded frequent thank-yous from fairgoers for standing up to Trump on the matter.

“Over the last two and half years, President Trump has continued to tell the American people things that just aren’t so,” Pence told POLITICO last week. “I had no right to overturn the election. I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. And I’ll continue to.”

Still, Pence continues to poll in single digits in the presidential primary, drawing the ire of MAGA Republicans infuriated by his unwillingness to overturn the election results.