Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said that while he didn’t want to do it, he had to remind people of how “severe” the situation is.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said that while he didn’t want to do it, he had to remind people of how “severe” the situation is.

A top Republican official in Missouri is threatening to remove President Joe Biden from appearing on the ballot as retaliation for the determination in two other states that Donald Trump doesn’t qualify because he “engaged in insurrection.”

“What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic,” Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote on the social media site X on Friday. “While I expect the Supreme Court to overturn this, if not, Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!”

Ashcroft’s post came shortly after the Supreme Court agreed to review a decision by Colorado’s high court that found Trump could be barred from the state’s primary ballot because of his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      1 year ago

      Why? Congress is only a law enforcement body in exactly one scenario. That’s not what congress was made for.

      • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        Congress, the Senate and the presidency were made together, each checking and balancing the other.

        Of course they are the ones who rule on eligibility.

        • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
          1·
          1 year ago

          Congress, the Senate and the presidency were made together, each checking and balancing the other.

          The 14th Amendment didn’t exist when the country was founded. When the 14th Amendment did exist, its authors recognized the real risk of Congress being complicit in treason. In fact, Trump’s initial defense is that “President” isn’t an officer and that this only involved Congress.

          Are you telling me that the authors of the 14th Amendment thought “if the traitors manage to get a majority in congress, then we don’t remove them for treason anymore”?

          …it sounds like you’re following this idealistic and oversimplified view of government. The dissenting judges in the Colorado case brought up a few reasonable arguments, but the ones you’re citing aren’t them. Nowhere in the Constitution does Congress get the right to prevent a candidate from running for president. In fact, THAT is intentional because Congress is a political body.

          • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
            11·
            1 year ago

            The 14th Amendment didn’t exist when the country was founded.

            Yeah. The clue is in the name.

            “if the traitors manage to get a majority in congress, then we don’t remove them for treason anymore”?

            If traitors become the majority, are they still traitors?

            Nowhere in the Constitution does Congress get the right to prevent a candidate from running for president.

            But the Senate did have that opportunity, and didn’t reach majority.