Bill Maher Puts JD Vance on the Spot Over Donald Trump's 2020 Election Fraud Claims: 'That Has to Stop'
Bill Maher confronted JD Vance over Donald Trump's continued claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
June 27 2026, Published 11:20 a.m. ET
Bill Maher challenged Vice President J.D. Vance over President Donald Trump's continued claims that the 2020 election was stolen during a tense exchange on HBO's Real Time, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The comedian pressed Vance on whether Republicans would move away from allegations of widespread voter fraud, telling the vice president that the party's rhetoric surrounding elections "has to stop."
Bill Maher Presses JD Vance on Election Claims
The HBO host told Vance Republicans must stop insisting elections are either won or 'cheated.'
During their wide-ranging interview on June 26, Maher suggested that Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio could emerge as the Republican presidential nominee in 2028 before turning the conversation to Trump's long-running claims about the 2020 election.
"Here's my dealbreaker for your side," Maher said.
"Under Trump, you guys have two outcomes an election can be: either we win, or they cheated. That s--- has to stop. And the person — and that means the person who has to stop it would be you or Marco. Can you tell me you will do that? Will you bring us back to the middle, at least on that, where we can concede elections, where it's not either one of those two options?" he added.
Vance replied: "Okay, Bill. So this is where I'm probably gonna lose you here..."
Maher interrupted with a joke: "That happened about eight minutes ago."
Maher asked Vance whether he would help 'bring us back to the middle' by accepting future election results.
JD Vance Defends Trump's Position
Vance said he believed Trump's core argument focused on issues surrounding the 2020 election rather than refusing to concede.
Vance said he did not believe Republicans were refusing to concede elections but argued that Trump's concerns centered on issues surrounding the 2020 race.
"I don't think that we should not concede elections, but I don't think that's what's going on," Vance said. "I think that if you go back to the president's core argument, he was making an argument about problems that existed in 2020."
The vice president then shifted the discussion toward the role of major technology companies, arguing they influenced the political landscape during the election.
"The biggest criticism I had of the 2020 election is that you had technology companies that were quite literally censoring negative information about the left and promoting negative information about the right," Vance said. "The sense in which I think the election in 2020 was rigged... is that you had technology companies that were putting their thumb on the scale in a way that completely obliterated the real open exchange of ideas."
He added that he believed the issue "didn't happen in 2024, but it happened in 2020, and it was a problem."
Maher Pushes Back
Maher rejected Vance's explanation, pointing to litigation over election-related claims before cutting him off.
Maher rejected Vance's argument, pointing to previous legal battles over claims involving the 2020 election.
"No, that was litigated," Maher said. "Dominion, the Fox News paid a—"
Vance attempted to continue, saying he was "trying to make the more middle-ground argument here," but Maher cut him off with a firm "No."
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Exchange Ends With One Final Jab
Maher ended the back-and-forth with a sarcastic remark.
As Vance finished defending his position, Maher delivered one final quip before moving on.
"Well, you're gonna get a big pat on the back when you go back to the White House," the host said.
