J.D. Vance is grilled on whether Trump lost the 2020 election after Walz gave his 'best answer of the night' on January 6

In a debate where he botched some phrases and said he is sometimes a 'knucklehead,' Tim Walz asked a pointed question to J.D. Vance about whether Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

The response he got from Trump's running mate is one that Democrats believe will bolster their case that Trump is a threat to democracy and Vance would help him overturn the will of the voters. 

'Did he lose the 2020? Election?' Walz asked Vance after the debate moderators set up a long question for the Ohio senator that included pointing out having 62 election claims by Trump and his allies tossed out of court. 

'Tim, I'm focused on the future,' Walls said. Then he tried to change the subject. 'Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 covid situation,' Vance responded.

'It's a damning non answer,' Walz interjected.

The segment began with Vance being asked about his own statement that he would not have certified the last presidential election when states certified electors that made Joe Biden president. Trump famously blasted Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to reject votes certified by states. 

Vance began by trying to pivot. 'First of all, I think we're focused on 'how to solve the inflation crisis caused by Kamala Harris, make housing affordable, make groceries affordable,' he said.

'What President Trump has said is that there were problems in 2020 and my own belief is that we should fight about those issues, debate those issues peacefully in the public square.'

He also spoke to what happened after the attack on the Capitol. 'And on January the 20th, what happened? Joe Biden became the president. Donald Trump left the White House,' Vance said. 

Vance brushed over Trump's efforts to get states to toss out legally cast votes in their states, his pressure campaign on Mike Pence, and calling supporters to D.C. on January 6.

Then he accused Harris of 'censorship' on social media and said that issue 'to me, is a much bigger threat to democracy than what Donald Trump said when he said that protesters should peacefully protest on January the sixth.'

Walz, in a debate where the two rivals found common ground on gun violence and other issues, sought to draw a clear line.

'Donald Trump refused to acknowledge' the results, said Walz. 'He was very clear. I mean, he lost this election, and he said he didn't. One hundred and forty police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day, some with the American flag. Several later died.'

'Sometimes you really want to win, but the democracy is bigger than winning an election. You shake hands and then you try and do everything you can to help the other side win,' said Walz.

Walz himself consider the moment a strong point, in a debate where in one bizarre flub he said he was friends with school shooters.     

'I think it was a good debate. The public got to see a contrast, and I think the ending sums it up. The democracy issue is important,' he said.

Trump, who was acquitted in his second impeachment trial when 57 senators voted guilty, short of the needed two-thirds majority, was still hinting at his claims of election fraud hours before the debate.

He called the election, which Biden won by about 20,000 votes in the state, 'just a disgrace. They’re not going to be able to do that a second time.'

Vance earlier this month was asked on the All In podcast whether he would have done if he was in Mike Pence's role on January 6. Pence famously rejected Trump's fraud claims and refused to toss out votes certified by the states.

'I would have asked the states to submit alternative slates of electors and let the country have the debate about what actually matters and what kind of an election that we had,' he said.

That could have resulted in millions of votes being discarded.