CNN anchor Boris Sanchez got into a heated exchange with Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) on Monday after he threatened to remove President Joe Biden from the ballot in retaliation for states disqualifying Donald Trump from their ballots.
Maine and Colorado are the only states so far to disqualify Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Trump’s lawyers have appealed the Maine decision to the state’s superior court and the Colorado ruling to the US Supreme Court. The high court agreed to hear oral arguments on Feb. 8.
In a post on X/Twitter Friday, Ashcroft called the decisions “disgraceful” and said that he expects SCOTUS to overturn the rulings, but if they don’t “Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!”
Suggesting he will remove Biden from the ballot.
In the CNN interview on Monday, Sanchez noted that if he is to remove Biden from the ballot, Ashcroft will need to go to court, as stated in his state’s constitution.
“Not, not at all,” Ashcroft responded, according to a clip shared by Mediaite.
“Your state constitution actually states that ‘the Secretary of State lacks authority to assess qualifications of a candidate, to determine whether to place a candidate’s name on a primary ballot’. That’s according to Section 15-387 of your state constitution,” Sanchez said, quoting the Missouri constitution.
“Sir, sir. What I’m saying is, if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling out of Colorado–” Ashcroft said.
“Which went to court to disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot, so you, according to your state constitution, would need to go to court,” Sanchez interjected.
“Sir, let’s just be clear. First of all, you’ve already said you’re not an attorney and you don’t know what happened in Colorado,” Ashcroft fired back.
“I know what happened in Colorado, sir. What I said was that I didn’t read through all of the evidence specifically to be able to qualify, whether there was hearsay or not,” Sanchez said. “You said that you would decide to remove Joe Biden from the ballot in your state according to your state constitution, which I just read to you from. It says you need to go to court. I’m asking you what you think your strongest argument is?”
“I continue to try to answer your questions, and you continue to try to tell me stuff that just isn’t true,” Ashcroft replied.
Sanchez pressed Ashcroft again, asking “how do you justify” removing Biden from the ballot and if Biden had engaged “in some kind of insurrection?”
“There have been allegations that he’s engaged in insurrection,” Ashcroft replied prompting Sanchez to ask for examples.
“Are you scared of the truth?” Ashcroft shouted back.
“I’m not terrified of the truth at all. It seems like you might be. Let’s hear what you have to say,” Sanchez replied.
Ashcroft never gave a specific answer of how Biden engaged in an insurrection but cited “allegations” from officials in Texas and Florida.
“They made allegations and all it took for the president, for former President Trump to be taken off the ballot in Colorado and in Maine were allegations,” Ashcroft said. “We should not be a country that removes people from the ballot based on allegations.”
Sanchez similarly sparred with the chairman of the Maine GOP last week, asking him SEVEN times to explain why it was wrong to remove Trump from the ballot in the state.
