Former Vice President Al Gore said on Sunday that there was “nothing really extraordinary” about him conceding in the 2000 presidential election after contesting its results in response to his name being invoked during a Jan 6. committee hearing last week.
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” co-anchor Jonathan Karl asked Gore for his reaction to former White House aide Matthew Pottinger’s calling Gore’s concession to former President George W. Bush after contesting the results a model for American democracy.
“Well, of course, but 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,” Gore told Karl. “That’s really all I did. The Constitution required what I did and there’s nothing really extraordinary about it.”
“What, 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,” Gore concluded.
Gore’s remarks come as the House select committee investigating the Jan 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol held its eighth public hearing on Thursday.
The committee heard testimony from Pottinger, who served as the deputy national security adviser under the Trump administration, and Sarah Matthews, who served as the former White House deputy secretary under former President Trump.
Gore also took the opportunity to commend the panel’s work as having “performed an amazing service to our democracy” since Watergate.
“Well, I would like to say that Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney and every single member of that committee have performed an amazing service to our democracy,” Gore told Karl. “I think these hearings have been the most persuasive and effective since the Watergate hearings so long ago, and I think we’re seeing a huge impact on public opinion in our country, too. They’ve done an incredible job.”
Gore, who served as vice president under former President Clinton, lost the 2000 presidential election to Bush after pushing for a recount in Florida that eventually established Bush as the winner.
Updated 12:18 p.m.