Former Vice President Al Gore declined to call former Vice President Mike Pence a hero for certifying the 2020 presidential election, saying Sunday that conceding the 2000 election to former President George W. Bush was “nothing really extraordinary.”
Gore made the comments in a series of interviews on the Sunday show circuit after being asked about a reference to his concession that was made at last week’s Jan. 6 select committee hearing. Matthew Pottinger, former President Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser who helped craft China policy, cited Gore’s speech as “actually a pretty good model, I think, for any candidate for any office up to and including the president and from any party.”
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“All I did is what Winston Churchill once said about the American people: The American people generally do the right thing after first exhausting every available alternative,” the former vice president told ABC’s This Week. “And that’s really all I did. The Constitution required what I did, and there’s nothing really extraordinary about it.”
“Was it personally difficult? Well, you know, when the fate of the country and the traditions and honor of our democracy are at stake, it’s not really a difficult choice,” he added.
Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press if Pence was a hero, the prominent environmental activist demurred.
“Well, in the current environment, just doing what the law and the Constitution requires seems heroic to some,” Gore said. “I’m glad he made that decision. You know, he was a freshman congressman sitting in the chamber when I counted the electoral votes in early January of 2001.”
Gore certified Bush’s 2000 election victory in his capacity as president of the Senate, one of the roles of the vice president.
For his part, Pence faced considerable pushback from Trump for declining to challenge certain swing-state electoral votes to overturn the 2020 election results as Senate president. Their relationship came to a head when rioters breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 and chanted, “Hang Mike Pence.” Despite the risk to Pence’s safety, the outgoing president tweeted that his vice president “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
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The Democratic vice president said in his 2000 concession speech, which came as a result of an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling in Bush v. Gore and despite winning the popular vote: “Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.
“I also accept my responsibility, which I will discharge unconditionally, to honor the new president-elect and do everything possible to help him bring Americans together in fulfillment of the great vision that our Declaration of Independence defines and that our Constitution affirms and defends,” he said.
