Republican secretary of state threatens to kick Biden off the ballot as Trump payback

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: NBC News

Jan. 5, 2024, 7:36 PM EST


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.

Colorado's Supreme Court based its ruling on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars those who "engaged in insurrection" from running for various federal offices.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/missouri-republican-secretary-of-state-biden-trump-ballot-rcna132600

[no_hypocrisy]

1. On what legal and justifiable basis would Ashcroft use to remove

Joe Biden's name from primary ballots?

Plus, "retaliation"? Joe Biden didn't tell Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine to remove Trump's name, nor were those Secretaries of State acting on behalf of Biden.

[jimfields33]

6. They are saying the border.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

12. It's Congresses responsibility to pass immigration legislation

Let them flail. The Administration is enforcing the laws as they exist. If they want to change the law, change the law. If not, let them go pound sand.

[onetexan]

13. They can come up w any ridiculous excuse

Ain't happening

[hay rick]

23. Legal basis? LOL

[azureblue]

28. and he would be guilty

of election interference. He has no grounds but politics.

[Artcatt]

63. The "we're pulling it out our bootie" principle.

[kevinore]

65. Lacking a legal or justifiable

Lacking a legal or justifiable basis is not important to these clowns. Jan 6. demonstrated that.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Ye who art an Ashcroft are not an ash worth

What a third rate putz. He'd rather curry favor with Trump than do his job.

[NBachers]

41. OK, you said what I wanted to say, better than I would've said it myself. I bow to you.

[Walleye]

3. Ashcroft:"It's disgraceful and undermined the republic, so I'm going to do it too"

I don’t think any Republican has had an original thought in 50 years

[LiberalArkie]

19. Conservatives can not have original thoughts. The have always been Status-Quo.

[canuckledragger]

20. As a Canadain, I can 2nd that.

Over here, our conservative party is pretty lazy in imagination, so they wait to see what underhanded tactics have worked for the republican party, then follow suit. They haven't done anything original in my 48 years.

[IbogaProject]

51. No way, conservatives are not fighting to keep the Status Quo!

Most conservatives are Regressive. They want us to go back to the 'good old days' with slavery, women without rights, lack of due progress, and unregulated business.

[LiberalArkie]

69. But you have to realize that the status quo is based on the early 1860's and anything newer than that is

corrupt.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. Another pissed off Republican...

Who cannot handle the truth that Joe Biden did not engage in or encourage an insurrection on January 6th, 2021?

Nor has he read that Section III of the 14th Amendment is VERY SPECIFIC when it comes to the subject of insurrection and thus disqualification from running for and holding political office. Sheesh!

[Novara]

5. There's one GIANT problem with your temper tantrum, Sparky

Biden didn't engage in insurrection against the United States. In fact, he's not been charged with 91 felonies and counting.

Grow up. Jeebus, acting like a five year old. Wait - Five year olds have more maturity.

And please, media, REPORT THIS CORRECTLY. CO ruled he is ineligible to hold office based on engaging in insurrection, therefore, anyone ineligible to hold office should not be on the PRIMARY ballot.

[Walleye]

22. I could certainly read better than him when I was five years old

[AllaN01Bear]

44. ding.

[barbtries]

7. on what pretext?!

i feel like i'm living in a bad dream. nothing makes sense

[CrispyQ]

33. The madness won't stop until the orange shitstain dies.

Every day I hope today is the day the fucker keels over. The cult will break down into various groups of deplorables because there's no one else they all coalesce around. Trump had a unique set of attributes that no one else had or has. He wasn't a politician & every week he showed up in America's living room playing a successful, tough-guy businessman. IMO he never would have gotten the repub nomination without The Apprentice.

[k55f5r]

37. My wife

gets up at the crack of dawn and starts reading her political blogs.
I get up a couple of hours later and every morning instead of "Good Morning, dear" I ask if the orange shitstain has died. Waiting for that day.


BONUS!!!
Here's a song about my wife -

?si=XU8ioDhdFd3G95RK

[barbtries]

47. i do agree with that.

there's been a sort of cultural shift and the common good is not valued anymore. i'm not saying his show caused that, republicans did. his show made him famous. i never watched it.

selfishness and greed are a-okay. I am not okay with that. people suffer who shouldn't. i think it's immoral to be a billionaire.

the hope is the young people. and magats are still a minority. he won't win fairly that's for sure. everyone must vote. if everyone votes, we win. democracy wins. otherwise, fuck.

[Half-step]

8. And yet, not unexpected...

They have no pretext, but we knew this garbage was coming.

[Roy Rolling]

9. Flying Monkeys

I see the Wicked Witch of Mar a Lago has released the flying monkeys.

[Septua]

10. That's the other side of the coin.

It was an inevitable and predictable counter by state GOP lawmakers. When the truth and facts are irrelevant, one can invent most any allegation one can imagine.

[suegeo]

11. LET THE EAGLE SOAR

Just so this jackass doesn’t start melodramatic singing like his tightly wound father.

[Kid Berwyn]

14. AG Ashcroft Sr. warned off commercial aviation in July 2001.

Ashcroft Flying High

BY CBSNEWS.COM STAFF CBSNEWS.COM STAFF
JULY 26, 2001 / 7:04 PM / CBS

Fishing rod in hand, Attorney General John Ashcroft left on a weekend trip to Missouri Thursday afternoon aboard a chartered government jet, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart.

In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term.

"There was a threat assessment and there are guidelines. He is acting under the guidelines," an FBI spokesman said. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department, however, would identify what the threat was, when it was detected or who made it.

A senior official at the CIA said he was unaware of specific threats against any Cabinet member, and Ashcroft himself, in a speech in California, seemed unsure of the nature of the threat.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ashcroft-flying-high/

[BlueMTexpat]

15. Because GOPer MAGAts

are neither constrained by truth nor law, this comes as no surprise!

[LiberalFighter]

16. I'm inclined to lump all Ashcroft family members into a cow pie.

[Orrex]

17. Really, there's no way that this wasn't going to happen

I knew as soon as Colorado and Maine wiped the ugly orange smear off of their primary ballots. It was inevitable.

I’m honestly surprised that GOP states haven’t already been doing this for years.

[GiqueCee]

18. Petty playground politics...

Last edited Sat Jan 6, 2024, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

... is all that a Republican can think of when his lollipop belief system is thwarted by THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES!
Pay attention to the very precise wording of the 14th Amendment, Ashcroft. An Attorney General that has zero respect for the Constitution he's sworn to uphold and defend has no business holding high elective office. Impeach him, then disbar him.
But then, Missouri is a VERY red state. That's what happens when cousins marry.

[myohmy2]

21. if...

...Ashcroft and the MAGAt's are yearning for a fascist insurrectionist leader, Joe's President until January 21, 2025, why don't we declare Joe a fascist insurrectionist leader now and save ourselves some time and trouble?

...I don't have a problem with that...the Supreme's may even agree...

[jvill]

24. "your honor, evidence #1 that this is baseless..."

whatever. it'll get thrown out of court.

and then these clowns need to defend inciting an insurrection again...

[Firestorm49]

25. Take Biden off the ballot for what? 91 felony indictments? Trying to overthrow the country? Conning everybody that he

can with phony products, trying to overthrow our government, a fake college scam, numerous sexual assault cases, violating the seemingly innocuous emolument clause, inciting a riot at the capital, selling nuclear secrets to the Russians, not ever being able to tell the truth, trying to have a military takeover by force, getting us out of NATO, favoring dictators and authoritarians over our staunchest allies, wanting to pardon incarcerated insurrectionists, …………..really, how much more can i say?

This is just another example of selective law enforcement and it needs to end, but I doubt we may ever see that again.

[ms liberty]

26. This sounds enough like extortion to make me very uncomfortable

[dchill]

27. So, Jay, why don't you just go...

... help your daddy cover up boobs on statues?

[KPN]

29. Not surprised. Whatelse would you expect from the Insurrectionist Pary?

[IronLionZion]

30. We can always expect malicious idiocy from the Ashcroft family

with absolutely no attempt at legal justification.

Asked how he would disqualify Biden from the ballot for insurrection, Ashcroft said that he's "let an invasion unstopped into our country from the border." Vice President Kamala Harris, he added, "supported people that were rebelling against the U.S. government during the riots in 2020," referring to racial justice protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

[DFW]

31. Ashcroft has been a dirty word in Missouri since Cheney named one of them AG in 2001

John Ashcroft had been a lousy Senator from Missouri before he became a lousy Attorney General under Cheney/Bush.

It seems his son is following in his dad's footsteps. Those are in any case shoes that seem easy to fill.

[lastlib]

34. He was also a shitty governor, auditor, Atty-Gen......

He's also a shitty human being.

[lastlib]

32. As a Missourian who has suffered long with his father and now him.....

I have long said that the "h" in the last name was a typo. This Asscroft is proving me right. I thoroughly despise these basturds.

[Kablooie]

35. Problem is that if he ordered it it would have to be contested in court.

And a decision wouldn’t be made until long after the election.

They can do almost anything illegal and couldn’t be held accountable until after the issue was moot.
By then no one would care so no consequences for them.

Our legal system doesn’t work to control todays Republicans.

[Freethinker65]

36. Trump can stay on the ballot, idiots can vote for him. The question is can he legally serve if elected.

SCOTUS should simply rule just because one wins a nomination, per the US Constitution, does not mean they will be allowed to serve the office.

One would think National Political parties would vet their candidates accordingly.

[colorado_ufo]

38. This sounds like a very expensive "solution."

This would create more court cases, delays, arguments about which candidate should assume the office, maybe election "re-dos" and on and on. Having Trump or someone like him get elected and then not allowing him to serve in the office would ignite a firestorm among his supporters, more than if he were taken off the ballot.

[Attilatheblond]

46. Likely the real goal here is not retaliation, but sowing more election chaos

and likely court cases. Thinking the GOP is done with letting voters decide elections. GOP did much better in 2000 when the courts picked the winner, and 3 of the people who worked on getting the 2000 FL recount case are now sitting on the SCOTUS, so the GOP is probably getting comfy with the idea of 'who cares what voters say'.

[NewJeffCT]

39. Hey Little Johnny A

What was disgraceful was Donny Trump inciting a cop-killing insurrection in order to hold onto power.

[no_hypocrisy]

40. Did I miss Joe Biden's Insurrection??

[NBachers]

42. MAGGOTS beget MAGGOTS. MAGGOTS elect MAGGOTS

Its a vicious cycle.

[AllaN01Bear]

43. snork.

[Tree Lady]

45. I feel like we are getting closer

to Civil War between the states, this time fighting for the lives of women and general civil rights of all including the right to vote. Also it is escalating the red states moving thousands of immigrants to blue states as a punishment and I can see anger rising.

[Turbineguy]

48. Sounds like Ol' Jay supports democracy

by supporting Tritler.

[LiberalFighter]

49. Threats like that should have personal consequences.

[Hieronymus Phact]

50. Next everything will be an "insurrection"

you criticized something: that's committing an "insurrection".
you attended a protest: that's committing an "insurrection".
you didn't vote the way you were supposed to: that's committing an "insurrection".

Destruction of the language is another fascist trait.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

52. Ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court...

https://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2023/23SA300.pdf

[Farmer-Rick]

53. Little Jay Asscroft certainly is following in

Putin's footsteps.

Isn't that what most dictators do is only give the people one person of note to vote for? How very fascistic of him.

Is he going to take off Robert anti-vaccer Kennedy from the ballot too, if he ever makes it on. What about that spoiler in the Green party? Does she get to be on the ballot? Or is it just insurrectionists and traitors he will allow on the Missouri ballot?

[GAJMac]

54. Y'know Mr. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft

If you'd separate your lips from Trump's asshole for a few minutes, you might be able to say something other than the idiot wind you're blowing lately.

[JoseBalow]

55. I know you are, but what am I?

[red dog 1]

56. ASScroft's post "came shortly after the Supreme Court agreed to review a decision by Colorado's high court

Last edited Sat Jan 6, 2024, 07:42 PM - Edit history (1)

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. Capital."

If the Dems do well in November and reelect President Biden, keep control of the Senate, and retake control of the House, they will be able to increase SCOTUS to 13 justices.

(Now trending on "X" #SCOTUSIsCorrupt)

[SWBTATTReg]

57. Oh, I know why Ashcroft wants to kick Pres. Biden off the Missouri ballots, we're being invaded by folks

from KS, OK, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska!

Unfortunately, he's PAR for the course in MO. And being a MO resident, I hate it. We also have Josh H., the moron too. The water here in MO, there must be something in it. You get out into the boonies in MO (not KC or STL or perhaps even Springfield), these people have got to show the urbanites in the cities that these farm boys know how to govern.

What they are really doing, is showing how bigoted and biased they are. Maybe one day, I'll get to move away from MO, but I really don't want to. The people are mostly okay, but they rigged the district boundaries so much, that they win every time. Perhaps one day, we'll get some help to fight this scourge of the ballot box in Missouri.

[ZonkerHarris]

58. fuck all these republican cheaters

[Evolve Dammit]

59. It's heading toward civil war; sorry to be Debbie Downer. Enough millions WANT it, that may well make it so. Hope they

think about it long, hard, consult former friends and relatives they no longer speak to? But of course they are a brainwashed cult and won't. So here we are.

[ShazzieB]

60. It's so cute how he thinks following the U.S. Constitution is "disgraceful & undermines our republic."

Okay, maybe cute is the wrong word, but it certainly is somethjng!

[Justice matters.]

61. These fascists have no shame.

Hey, Ashcroft: The United States Constitution is worth defending and protecting what it stipulates. Nothing in it makes Joe Biden an insurrectionist! Your despicable, criminal dear leader, though, not only planned one and still claims his big lies are true, but he took multiple millions from foreign DICTATORS without notifying Congress and wait for its approval to keep them for himself and his family of grafters. Read the Emoluments clause!

[LiberalFighter]

62. Hmmm I wonder if they do that...

Could the Senate refuse to seat Missouri Senators in 2025?

[Warpy]

64. Does that fucking dimwit realize he's need a legal reason to do so?

"I don't like Democrats" is not a legal reason, nor is "I want payback for my slighted Lard and Savior."

He's obviously another one who slept through law school.

[Marthe48]

66. You're a poopy head

NO! You're a poopy head. Only traitor really is a poopy head. ashcroft seems stuck on a playground in 2nd grade.

[SouthernDem4ever]

67. Repugs are just too stupid for words.

[Rhiannon12866]

68. Good Grief! All the ideas that they offer this nation are retribution.