(Originally published by The New York Times on October 1, 2024.)

On Tuesday night, JD Vance will face Tim Walz in what is likely to be the only vice-presidential debate of the 2024 election. As American voters assess Mr. Vance, they should scrutinize whether he has demonstrated the fundamental fidelity to the Constitution that the office requires.

Before and after his selection as Donald Trump’s running mate, Mr. Vance said repeatedly that if he had been vice president on Jan. 6, 2021, he would have intervened in the electoral count in favor of President Trump.

Unlike Mike Pence, Mr. Vance has made clear that he is willing to cater to Mr. Trump’s obsession with the myth that his victory in the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and that on Jan. 6 Vice President Pence refused to exercise his constitutional powers to prevent that theft.

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