Stephanopoulos Says the First Question at the Upcoming CNN Debate Should Be ‘Who Won the Last Election’

STEPHANOPOULOS: “Absolutely unprecedented, Abby, absolutely unprecedented. We have never had a former president or a presidential candidate who refuses to accept the peaceful transfer of power, who refuses to say that he will abide by the Constitution, who’s been indicted and impeached for trying to block the peaceful transfer of power. That is something that is absolutely fundamental to our democracy. It’s one of the things that’s made our democracy work for over 250 years, the idea, the simple fact that the former president continues to lie about the last election, that he did whatever he could on that day to block the peaceful transfer of power is absolutely unprecedented in all of our history.”
PHILLIP: ‘And you on your show on this week, you’ve had some of these Trump V.P. shortlisters on there. Some of the other hosts of this week have also had them on. I want to just play a little bit of what they’ve been saying on television of late.”
[Clip starts]
Vance: “Do I think there were problems in 2020? Yes, I do. Do I think it was a problem that big technology companies working with the intelligence services censored the presidential campaign of Donald Trump? Yes.”
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: “But, Governor, you have said the election wasn’t stolen and you’re supporting someone who says it was.”
BURGUM: “Well, I know that we’ve got — certainly we’ve got irregularities.”
[Clip ends]
PHILLIP: “Do you get the sense that this is one of the requirements to be on that shortlist?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “You don’t have to get the sense. It’s out there. It’s plain as day. I actually, you know, talked to Senator J.D. Vance, who’s reportedly on the shortlist as well. And, you know, every indication he gave was that he would do the same thing that Mike Pence — I mean, that he would not do what Mike Pence did in 2000. I mean, it certainly seems to have become a requirement for those who are running to accept President Trump’s lie, former President Trump’s lie about the last election to suggest that he did nothing wrong now on January 6th, to say that somehow that is not an important issue at this point, and to suggest that it was actually Vice President Pence who did the wrong thing in 2020. I mean, this is just — again, this is astonishing. You know, we’ve never really had a former president run before whose own vice president refuses to endorse him because of the actions he took on those days.”
PHILLIP: “Yes. I mean, that alone maybe it says it all. You know, as a journalist, when you have these potential V.P. candidates on the show, you’ve had them on, we’ve had them on the show here, they rarely, if ever, concede ground. You know, this seems to be kind of also another litmus test for how to be in MAGA world. I mean, is this the new reality for this MAGA era of politicians that they don’t back down when they’re confronted with facts?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Perhaps it is, but I think that poses a test for all of us in journalism as well. I’ve made it a point, if they will not accept those facts, I don’t go on to other issues. I’m not going to go to, to participate in some kind of a sham where you somehow equate the legitimacy of an election or the peaceful transfer of power with a debate over tax cuts or environmental regulation. If you can’t pass that fundamental threshold of saying, yes, the last election was not stolen to I will abide by the results of the next election, then I think that’s all voters and viewers need to know. I don’t think if you’re willing to lie about something as big as that, why should anything else they want to talk about be given any credence?”
PHILLIP: “It’s such an important point. I mean, we’ve got a presidential debate coming up right here on CNN later this month. As a journalist, as an American, what do you think is the most important question that needs to be answered from both candidates?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Who won the last election?”
PHILLIP: “Yes.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Very simple.”
PHILLIP: “Yes, and —“
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Who won the last election? Let’s discuss and debate.”
PHILLIP: “And we’ll see. I mean, look, it’s been asked by Donald Trump. He refuses to answer it correctly, but we’ll see what he does when he’s given that opportunity.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “In front of 140 million people. You know, it’s a little bit different on a stage like that.’
PHILLIP: “Yes.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: ‘And when it’s an actual debate.”
PHILLIP: “Yes.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “But that’s a real test.”
PHILLIP: ‘I do want to play a little bit of what the vice president, Kamala Harris, has been saying, actually, on this very point. I mean, she seems to really be taking this issue on head on.”n
[Clip starts]
Harris: “Donald Trump openly tried to overturn the last election. And now he openly attacks the foundations of our justice system. Cheaters don’t like getting caught.”
[Clip ends]
PHILLIP: “It’s a different tone than we’ve seen from her, but it also speaks to that question that you just raised. If Trump doesn’t sort of pass the truth test on that issue, is there room for the Biden Administration to even move on to some of the other stuff, maybe the bread and butter issues, maybe the economy? Do you think that they are settling on this idea of a character test for Donald Trump on this issue of the election?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “Presidential candidates have to do it all. But, I mean, I think that is the threshold question of this election. You know, certainly, the Biden campaign is going to have to address voters’ concerns about the economy, voters’ concerns about inflation. Those are important as well. But it is fundamental, as I said at the start, the very question of whether or not you accept election results, whether you accept the peaceful transfer of power. That is an absolutely fundamental issue that people should be confronted with as they go to make their choice in November.”
PHILLIP: “You know, when it comes to the potential of a Trump Administration, I mean, what do you think his conduct on January 6th tells you about what he might do next, not just around the election but just in general?”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “He’s saying what he would do next. He says it every single day. He says he would pardon what he calls the January 6th hostages. He’s talked about retribution, using his Justice Department as an arm of retribution. He’s talked openly about dropping the prosecutions against himself. That’s an act of obstruction of justice in and of itself. It’s no secret. When President Trump says he wants to do something, we should take him at his word.”
PHILLIP: “George Stephanopoulos, thank you very much. And, again, George’s book, The Situation Room, is out right now.’