Meet Keaton Nygren
He's a law student from Johnstown
who previously interned for Senator
Joni Ernst. Kate Berger.
Hi, Mr. Vice President.
My question
is, are you prepared
to push back against the former
president on allegations
you could have overturned
the 2020 election?
Okay.
Now,
I would refer you to my speech today.
To that question, and the answer is yes.
I think it's it's important.
And not that I didn't
think there were irregularities
in the 20, 20 election. I did.
And I said so on that fateful day,
I had concerns that there were half a
dozen states
that had changed the rules
in the name of COVID
and that it undermined public confidence
in our elections.
But once states had certified
those elections,
once the courts would review them,
once the Congress
had considered any objections, I,
I knew my duty was clear.
The Constitution states
clearly that the job of the
vice president
as President of the Senate is to preside
over a joint session of Congress
where the Electoral College
votes are opened and counted,
says they shall be opened and they shall
be counted.
And we did that.
And I want the American
people to know that
I believe with all my heart
that we did our duty, that day.
The Bible says he keeps his oath
even when it hurts.
And I know something about that.
I know the disappointment of the 20,
20 election. You remember I,
I was on the ballot.
Right.
But at the end of the day,
I think the Republican Party
has to be the party of the Constitution.
I mean, we've had enough of Democrats
trampling on our constitutional rights.
We've got enough of Democrats
wanting to pack the court,
do away with the Second Amendment,
this trample on religious freedom.
So now more than ever,
I think the American people
need to be able to look
to the Republican Party and say
that will be a party
whose leaders are all men and women
that are dedicated
to preserving and protecting
and defending the Constitution.
Certain states Sure.
On that,
Donald Trump says he is, quote, inclined
to pardon
many members of the mob
who attacked the Capitol on January six.
Those people were, of course,
part of the same mob who built gallows
and chanted about wanting to hang you.
Would you consider partying
and pardoning any of them?
You know,
on the day of
January six, I issued a tweet
demanding that people leave the Capitol
and end the violence.
And I said, that
those who fail to do that
should be prosecuted
to the fullest extent of the law.
And I continue to believe that today
we cannot ever allow
what happened on January
six to happen again
in the heart of our democracy.
And I'll stand by the decisions
and the due process of court in our laws
And I have no interest or no intention
of pardoning those
that assaulted police officers
or vandalized our Capitol
They need to be answerable to the law.
Sir, I want to ask
about some breaking news tonight.
The Justice Department recently
informed Donald Trump's legal team
that he is a target
of a federal investigation
into possibly mishandling
classified documents.
I should say you were cleared last week
in your own documents case.
What's your reaction to the news
about your former boss?
Well, let me say the handling of
classified materials
is a very serious matter.
And that was why after the revelations
at the president's residence
and the revelations
at the former president's residence,
I took it upon myself to
review our files.
And
we uncovered
a small number of documents
that have been inadvertently
transferred to our residence in Indiana.
I immediately
informed the Department of Justice, and
I'm grateful
after our full cooperation
that they concluded
that it was an innocent mistake.
Do you see his case is different?
But let me say this.
Look, I
I don't know the facts
of the president's case.
I don't know the facts of the former
president's case.
And
but what we've got to have in
this country is equal treatment
under the law.
And, Dana,
you may not know.
I mean, I was very troubled
last summer when
when for the first time in history,
there was a search warrant
executed at the home of a former
president of the United States.
Surely, you know, all the years
I served on the Judiciary Committee,
that's when you and I first met.
There had to be
dozens of ways
that could have been handled
other than that kind of behavior.
I mean,
when I informed the Department of Justice
that we had classified
materials potentially in our home,
they were at my home,
the FBI was on my front doorstep
the next day.
But what we found out
was that when Joe Biden
apparently alerted
the Department of Justice, 80 days later,
they showed up at his office
that's not equal treatment under the law.
We've got him
for treatment.
But the question is allegation
that investigators
run into obstruction,
which you clearly did not do, if that is
something that investigators see
as possible,
even enough
potentially to indict
the former president.
Do you think that that should go forward?
Well, I would I would hope not.
I really would.
Then
I mean,
there's several reasons for that.
Number one is I think that
I think it would be terribly
divisive to the country.
I mean, at a time
when the American people are hurting,
I mean, to tell
your families are struggling right now
with record inflation, we have
we have a crisis at our border,
the likes of which we've never seen.
We have a flood of fentanyl
coming into every city
large and small in this country
that is killing young people every day.
We have threats abroad,
a crime wave in our cities.
I think now more than ever,
we ought to be finding ways
we could actually come together.
We're going to get
this kind
of this kind of action
by the Department of Justice, I
think would only fuel
further division in the country.
And let me also say
I think it would also send
a terrible message to the wider world.
I mean, we are the
we're the emblem of democracy.
We're the symbol of justice.
In the world.
And the
serious matter,
which has already happened
once in New York
of indicting a former president
of the United States, sends
a terrible message to the world.
I hope the DOJ thinks better of it
to resolve these issues
without on a dime.
Sir, I just want to clarify
what you're saying
is that if they believe
he committed a crime,
they should not go forward
with an indictment.
You just talked before
about committing to the rule of law.
Let me be clear that no
one's above the law. Okay.
But with regard
to the unique circumstances here,
look, I
those classified I had no business
having classified documents
in my residence,
and I took full responsibility for it.
President Biden
had no business
having him in his residence
from when he was vice president as well.
And the same with former President Trump.
But I would just hope
that there would be a way
for them to move forward
without the dramatic and drastic
and divisive step
of indicting a former president
of the United States.
We've got to find a way
to move our country forward
and restore confidence in equal treatment
under the law in this country.
We really do.
Sir, if Donald Trump
if Donald Trump is convicted of a crime
and you're elected president,
would you pardon him?
Well, I don't want to speak
about hypotheticals
I'm not sure I'm going to be elected
president of the United States.
But I believe we have a fighting chance.
I really believe we do.
And if you are
and I would hope again,
then you're as persistent
as ever
CNN is living up to its reputation.
But look, there are real issues
the American people are facing.
And rather than talking about that,
I want to talk about with the people
here in Iowa,
talking about
which is the failed policies
of the Biden administration,
the need for us to have new leadership
in the White House and in our party.
We have.