CNN's Boris Sanchez just pulverized Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. If anyone is looking for Ashcroft, they can find him in a fetal position in a corner, sucking his thumb.
Because Maine and Colorado want Donald Trump removed from their state ballots, Ashcroft has threatened to remove President Joe Biden from Missouri's state ballot for the 2024 election. It's sort of like their efforts to impeach Biden. "We're going to get you back by impeaching Biden!" Sanchez tries to make sense of Ashcroft's reasoning. It doesn't go down well for the Missouri Republican. We're transcribing the entire clip because it's a masterclass in How To Do Journalism.
"I'm wondering, though, what would then be your justification for removing Joe Biden from the ballot in Missouri?" Sanchez asked. "Has he engaged in your mind in some kind of insurrection?"
"There have been allegations that he's engaged in insurrection," Ashcroft insisted.
"How so?" Sanchez asked.
"No, please let me finish," Sanchez said. "There have only been allegations."
"You can't say something like that and not back it up," Sanchez said. "What do you mean?"
"I am continuing, but you interrupted me before I could back it up," Ashcroft alleged.
"Go ahead," Sanchez said.
"Are you scared of the truth?" Ashcroft said.
"Oh, I'm not terrified of the truth at all," Sanchez shot back. "It seems like you might be."
"Let's see what you have to say," Sanchez said.
"There have only been allegations against President Trump," Ashcroft said again.
"What allegations?" Sanchez asked.
"President Trump has never been adjudicated, built in a court of law," Ashcroft said.
"What did Joe Biden do in your mind that equates insurrection?" Sanchez asked. "What allegations are you talking about?"
"I have...I have seen allegations from the Lieutenant Governor of Texas that has said that Joe Biden has been part of insurrection or rebellion," Ashcroft said. "The governor of Florida say the same thing."
"Insurrection over what?" Sanchez asked for the eleventy bazillionth time. "What did the governor of Texas say that Joe Biden was causing an insurrection over?"
"If you're going to make the claim, give me some specifics. Are you just going to cite the governor of Texas or Florida and not actually say what they are arguing? Do you know what they're arguing?"
"What I'm telling you is this," Ashcroft said. "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. We should not be a country that removes people from the ballot based on allegations. I think you can agree with that."
"I think it depends to a degree," Sanchez responded.
"Oh, so because he removed from my guy..." Ashcroft interrupted.
"Joe Biden is not my guy," Sanchez clarified. "You don't know who my guy is. The point is, sir, the point is that it's not clear whether the 14th Amendment is self executing or not. In other words, it doesn't matter to a court at that point whether there was a conviction of Donald Trump for insurrection or not. That is a debate for the Supreme Court to have."
"How do you know he's committed insurrection if there's not a conviction?" Ashcroft asked.
"A judge decided so in Colorado," Sanchez explained.
"But it wasn't a judge in Maine," Ashcroft said. "It was just the secretary of state."
"Because that's the way the Constitution in Maine is laid out, sir," Sanchez said while filing his nails on the dead bones of previous interviewees.
"The Constitution in Maine gives the secretary of state the ability to decide whether or not someone is violated," Ashcroft said.
"As part of a process, yes, someone can make the claim that someone shouldn't be on a ballot," Sanchez said as he dragged Ashcroft to school. "That's something that disqualifies them. The secretary of state is the first layer in a legal process of deciding whether that person belongs on a ballot or not. It's in Maine state constitution."
"I think you should probably read it, sir, before you make claims about the Maine secretary of state and their process," Sanchez added. "We got to leave the conversation there, but I very much appreciate your time. You're welcome back anytime, sir."
Ashcroft must feel like someone beat the ever-loving crap out of him because that's what I saw. Hello, 911. I want to report a murder.
