BORIS SANCHEZ: What would be your justification for removing Joe Biden from the ballot in Missouri?
JAY ASHCROFT: There have been allegations that he's engaged in insurrection
ASHCROFT: Um, I've seen allegations from the lieutenant governor of Texas pic.twitter.com/687uqKyCUw — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 8, 2024
Earlier in the interview, Sanchez asked why Ashcroft felt he had the authority to remove Biden from the ballot. The Missouri state Constitution says that the secretary of state cannot unilaterally disqualify a candidate and would need to challenge a candidate’s eligibility in court. Ashcroft accused Sanchez of lying.
Ashcroft’s main argument seems to be that Trump shouldn’t be disqualified from a state ballot because he has not yet been convicted of insurrection, only accused of it. Ashcroft also said that states should not be able to disqualify candidates from the ballot, failing to see the irony of his threat to do just that to Biden.
A major difference, though, is that Trump has been indicted twice, once at the federal level and again at the state level, for trying to overturn the 2020 election. And all of the evidence that has been reported so far seems pretty damning.