WASHINGTON — Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he tried to meet with Vice President JD Vance in Washington this week, after the vice president said Johnson was welcome to visit him to talk about election security. However, the mayor said Vance’s office never responded to his request for a sit-down.

During a visit to Milwaukee back in July, Vance made an offer to Johnson, saying, “He’s welcome to come to Washington, D.C. I’ll sit down and meet with him. We don’t have time to meet with him today because we have to get back to Washington, but I’m happy to meet with him.” 

The mayor had requested a meeting while Vance was in the city, after it was reported the FBI wanted to question Milwaukee police and election officials about the 2020 election. President Donald Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 but has not accepted his defeat in the state.

The mayor said he wanted to assure Vance that nothing nefarious happened. During his July appearance, the vice president cast doubt on the mayor’s assurances, even as he vowed to meet with him one day.

“It was a little bit of, ‘He doth protest too much,’” Vance said. “When I hear a guy protesting out of nowhere, ‘I did not do any election fraud; I did not do any election fraud,’ it makes me wonder, why is that guy protesting so aggressively? It’s a little odd.” 

Johnson followed up on the vice president’s offer, sending a letter in July and an email this month, saying he would be in Washington this week. Johnson said he never got a response. 

“Kind of surprising that a leader of that stature wouldn’t meet about something that they claim to be so important,” Johnson said. 

Vance has said if Democrats want him to stop talking about election fraud, they should pass the SAVE America Act. The bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Democrats in the Senate have blocked it, saying the proposed law would leave many Americans unable to vote, because they don’t have passports or easy access to their birth certificates.

“I think it’s important to talk about these things. If they’re talking about fraud, if they’re bringing this up into the public conversation, then they should have a public conversation about it,” Johnson said. “I think that probably doesn’t help with the narrative because then your issues would be disproven if you actually go and learn the facts.” 

The vice president’s team did not respond to a request by Spectrum News 1 for comment. 

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