ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl claimed on Sunday that former Vice President Al Gore had been “gracious” in his December 2000 concession to former President George W. Bush — and the backlash was immediate.
It all began with a clip from ABC’s “This Week” — which Karl had hosted and Gore had joined as a guest — and a line of questioning designed to further damage former President Donald Trump with regard to his attempts to claim the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
WATCH:
Asked about presiding over electoral certification for George W. Bush's 2000 victory after challenging some results, former Vice Pres. Al Gore tells @jonkarl: “The Constitution required what I did and there's nothing really extraordinary about it.” https://t.co/jRxDUWwQYS pic.twitter.com/zHlzJou1GO
— ABC News (@ABC) July 24, 2022
Karl noted that Gore, as sitting Vice President, had been the one to certify the election — cementing his own loss — even after a highly contentious battle over ballots in the state of Florida.
“The Constitution required what I did and there’s nothing really extraordinary about it,” Gore replied.
Karl shared the clip, adding his own comment regarding Gore’s concession speech — given after the Supreme Court put an end to his continued demands for more recounts.
“Gore’s concession speech in December 2000 was gracious, unifying and one of the best speeches he ever gave,” Karl said.
Gore’s concession speech in December 2000 was gracious, unifying and one of the best speeches he ever gave. https://t.co/kmJbN2SNoB
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) July 24, 2022
But critics were quick to point out that Gore had initially conceded the race — but then went on to withdraw his concession within hours, at which point the battle began in the courts. He continued to demand recounts until the Supreme Court put a stop to that, and only then did he concede again — but he and other Democrats still continued to complain about the results.
“This is total bulls**t. He pretended he lost that election for years after the SCOTUS ruling and years after every recount proved he lost. Nothing compares to the outrageous behavior of Trump since 2020, but don’t pretend Gore was something he wasn’t. It’s revisionist nonsense,” David Bahnsen tweeted in response.
This is total bullshit. He pretended he lost that election for years after the SCOTUS ruling and years after every recount proved he lost. Nothing compares to the outrageous behavior of Trump since 2020, but don’t pretend Gore was something he wasn’t. It’s revisionist nonsense https://t.co/EQqCwsNAqw
— David L. Bahnsen (@DavidBahnsen) July 24, 2022
“After he did everything in his power to destroy trust in our elections,” The Federalist’s David Harsanyi added.
“The Supreme Court literally had to stop Al Gore from contesting an election through the legal system, so sarcastic claps for good ole Al Gore. a lot of this election denial stuff stemmed from him,” came from @thefactualprep.
“Talk about rewriting history,” Red State’s Bonchie pointed out. “Gore conceded, unconceded, and only conceded again because the Supreme Court slapped him down. Democrats then spent the next 8 years accusing Bush of being an illegitimate president.”
Gore also recently made headlines when he claimed that climate deniers were no better than the Uvalde police officers who knew there was an active shooter still inside Robb Elementary School and delayed any moves to confront him.