Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters Friday the Sunshine State is considering whether President Joe Biden can be removed from the state’s primary ballot, according to the Washington Examiner.
After Maine’s Secretary of State took action to remove former President Donald Trump from that state’s ballot over the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the United States Capitol, DeSantis noted Florida is exploring if it can strike Biden from its primary ballot over his response to the migration crisis along the southern border of the United States, the Washington Examiner reported.
“To have one election official decide that somebody is guilty of, quote, ‘insurrection,’ when there has not been a criminal conviction of anybody, much less the candidate himself, that opens up Pandora’s box,” DeSantis told reporters in Cumming, Iowa. (RELATED: Trump Appeals Decision Kicking Him Off Maine Ballot)
Gov. DeSantis said he is curious if the state could “make a credible case” against Biden “because of the invasion of 8 million [migrants],” citing the ongoing border crisis. https://t.co/RxfxTZFY3d
— WEAR ABC 3 (@weartv) January 6, 2024
Although DeSantis said that he was against “tit-for-tat” political reactions, he said he was also against “fighting with one hand tied behind your back” after Trump was removed from the Colorado and Maine primary ballots, the Washington Examiner reported.
“Whatever the rules are applied to us, we’re going to fight back and apply the rules the other way,” he said. “I do think the U.S. Supreme Court is going to have to take the case.”
CNN analyst S.E. Cupp said, “The whole of the Republican Party right now is animated by a politics of revenge … The punitiveness, the punishment, the retribution is what is leading so much of Republican policy and rhetoric.”
Missouri’s Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft, also said Friday his state is considering removing Biden from the ballot, NBC News reported.
“What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic,” Ashcroft posted on X (formerly Twitter). “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 said that if Democratic states plan to remove Trump, “you bet you’re going to see the same thing happening from Republican states. And it’s not good.”
What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic. 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! https://t.co/Zx2P4k9A8w
— Jay Ashcroft (@JayAshcroftMO) January 5, 2024