CNN anchor Boris Sanchez asked the Maine Republican Party chairman why it was wrong for the state to exclude former President Trump from the ballot, after former President Trump seemed to repeatedly dodge the question. I asked him 7 times.
Mr. Sanchez interviewed Maine Republican Party Chairman Joel Stetkis on CNN's “News Central” on Tuesday and asked the party why Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows' decision to remove Mr. Trump from the state's ballot. I repeatedly asked if I had made a mistake. Unsatisfied with Stetkis' answers, Sanchez repeatedly asked why Trump should remain on the ballot.
“The simplest way to put this is that we have an unelected bureaucrat who wants to pretend to be a lawyer, and she's literally taking away choices from the voters of Maine,” Stetkis said in his first speech to Sanchez. I told Mr. response. “Here in Maine and across the country, whether you like Donald Trump or not, Bellows is wrong on many levels, to the point of being truly embarrassing.”
When asked a second time why she shouldn't have made that decision, Stetkis said, “Her decision-making process was simply wrong.” Sanchez continued to ask Stetkis what her main argument against the decision was, but the Republican guest continued to deflect the question.
“Well, this has less to do with Donald Trump and more to do with voter suppression. We oppose this decision, no matter what the Republican Party is. [was running]. She was going to arbitrarily decide that Maine voters would not be allowed to…” Stetkis said, before Sanchez intervened again.
“You're saying it's arbitrary, but what about her decision?'' What is it about her argument that you legally object to?'' Sanchez said. Asked.
Stetkis responded: “We're just against her taking away voters' right to choose the leader they want to vote for.”
The two continued to communicate. At one point, Stetkiss told a CNN host that “no matter how many times she is asked, her decisions are completely wrong.” When asked for the seventh and final time why this decision was wrong, Stetkis referred to other attorneys who “made a good legal argument as to why she was wrong.”
Mr. Sanchez ended the interview by pointing out that Mr. Stetkis did not respond to legal arguments for his answers.
“I think there needs to be a legal argument. You don't seem to have articulated the exact legal argument and the flaws you see in her decision,” Sanchez said. “Nonetheless, Joel, we appreciate you coming and getting your perspective. Thank you so much for being with us.”
Mediaite was first highlighted repeated questioning.
Bellows announced his decision to exclude Trump from Maine's primary ballot last week, which Trump challenged on Tuesday. Bellows said the former president violated the 14th Amendment's insurrection clause by the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and his actions leading up to it, which is the basis for removing him from the ballot. He claimed that there was.
“I note that the Secretary of State has never before deprived a presidential candidate of the right to vote under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. We also note that there has been no insurrection,” Bellows wrote in the decision.
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