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.
Wait it is?
Since we’re at the primary stage, the only people who have standing to challenge are going to be Republicans and possibly independents (as in Colorado).
It’s also important to remember that the reporting you hear like “Michigan and California left Trump on the ballot” doesn’t mean the 14A S3 challenges are over in those states. Michigan, for example, does not have jurisdiction to exclude anyone from a primary ballot. (Colorado does, which is why they were able to find him disqualified from the primary ballot - because he is also disqualified from the general in Colorado.) If Trump wins the Republican nomination and is set to appear on the general election ballot, such states will see new challenges.