One of the few questions that divided the two Republican candidates in Tuesday night’s televised gubernatorial primary debate was whether then-Vice President Mike Pence did the right thing when he oversaw the 2020 electoral vote count.
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte supported Pence’s actions, while former state Senate President Chuck Morse flatly said Pence did the wrong thing.
But during his U.S. Senate bid two years ago, however, Morse gave a different answer, saying that if he had been a U.S. senator, he would not have challenged the Electoral College vote count.
On Tuesday night, WMUR’s Adam Sexton asked, “Did Vice President Mike Pence do the right thing on Jan. 6, 2021 — yes or no?”
Ayotte answered first.
“We need to make sure that our laws are enforced. And he wanted to follow the law, and so he did that. And I understand that,” Ayotte said. When Sexton asked, “Is that a yes?” Ayotte replied, “I think that following the law in our constitution is important.”
Morse’s answer was more direct.
“Sen. Morse, yes or no: Did Mike Pence do the right thing on Jan. 6?” Sexton asked.
“No, no. We ought to first make sure we have the facts, and then we follow the law based on the facts,” Morse responded.
Pence’s job as vice president on Jan. 6 was to oversee the opening and counting of the election results that had been certified by the states, as required by the U.S. Constitution. Trump and some of his supporters insist Pence had the authority to somehow stop the process or refuse to accept the results from the states. Some supporters even insist Pence could have chosen to recognize slates of electors that had not been certified by the states, giving Trump an Electoral College victory.
Because he refused, some MAGA voters consider Pence a traitor.
When Pence was running for the GOP presidential nomination last summer, he was confronted during an appearance in Londonderry over the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
“Why’d you sell out the people?” an attendee shouted. “Why didn’t you uphold the Constitution?”
“I upheld the Constitution,” Pence replied. “Read it.”
Nearly all constitutional scholars on both the left and right dismiss the “Pence is a traitor” theory as legal nonsense. And Morse hinted in 2022 that he agreed.
During a press conference after the Sept. 8, 2022, WMUR U.S. Senate GOP primary debate, Morse was asked, “Speaking of the 2020 election, if you were a senator on Jan. 6 (2021), would you have objected to the certification of the electors?”
“No,” Morse answered.
What changed between 2022 and today? The Morse campaign provided a statement.
“As Sen. Morse stated in last night’s debate, it’s important we always deal with facts,” said campaign manager Maya Harvey. “There were enough irregularities in the 2020 election that leadership on both sides should have focused on making sure our elections were secure and not shied away from asking the hard questions. ‘
“As Donald Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence had an obligation to make sure that all relevant appeals were aired. Ultimately, the election was properly certified despite the many irregularities that are still coming to light. As governor, Chuck will make sure we bring all voices to the table to ensure New Hampshire voters have full confidence in our system and know their vote counts.”
Morse has been aggressively touting his support for Trump since first entering the gubernatorial primary last year. He appeared at a Trump rally on the University of New Hampshire campus last December to endorse the former president in the First in the Nation primary. (Ayotte did not endorse Trump until after he became the presumptive nominee.)
Morse has since pushed his support for Trump, featuring it in his TV ads and hitting Ayotte for pulling her support from Trump late in the 2016 election.
But Ayotte supporters note that Morse was a Jeb Bush supporter in 2016, and he was also late to the MAGA game. Some longtime friends of Morse dismiss his new Trump enthusiasm as political opportunism.
“Chuck has always wanted to be governor. If [going MAGA] is what it takes, he’ll do it,” one longtime Morse associate told NHJournal on background.
