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

So yeah, if Biden commits insurgency, then his should be off the ballot. But last time I checked he hasn't come anywhere close.
- But, Republicans would have you believe “fair is fair.” Trump got impeached, so Biden should get impeached. Trump got kicked off the ballot, so Biden should get kicked off the ballot. This has nothing to do with pesky things like details and rule of law, it’s just about my side vs your side, unless my side is winning, then I’ll take the law into consideration again.
  
  The logic of "We're going to punish your guy for what our guy did" makes me laugh... until I cry.
  
  it’s just about my side vs your side
  That's what authoritarians literally believe. It's a tribal mentality. "Might makes right." "The ends justify the means."
  
  Still waiting for Harris to become a secret trans woman like Obama.
- You're forgetting that for these people, "commit insurgency" means "supports things I don't like".
- The real question is what Thomas's dissenting opinion would be when the SC rules otherwise, and if he gets paid by the word.
- Excuse me? Are you just going to ignore his wanton use of the word "malarkey"?
- He committed an insurgency... against the road when he got into his Mustang and put it in gear back in the 70s.
- Eventually, we will have no one on the ballot.

I am really tired of Republicans threatening lawlessness in response to application of lawful consequences.
At this point, they deserve to have some lawless consequences applied to them, if that's what they crave so badly.
- Why would you give them what they want?
  
  He means a crowbar to the knees.
  
  Some men you just can't otherwise reach.

I mean, good luck, you’ll have to provide better justification than revenge to keep it from being overturned.
- They don't care. It's all about the grandstanding.
  
  I almost want to see them try though, just to get smacked down in court.
  
  Is that some of that librul virtue signalling I hear so much about?

Anytime Trump is held slightly accountable, You can count on Republicans to threaten some type of payback.
- It's basically Animal Farm.
  "We believe in democracy for all... but some are more democratic than others"
  "We believe in free speech... but some speech is more free than others."
  
  Animal Farm is one of their guidebooks. Unsurprising since they're a bunch of swine.
- Well yes because that means they will be accountable too. And they don’t wanna take personal responsibility over anything.
  
  Responsibility would mean that they acknowledge being dumbasses in an uniroinic sense
- Honestly at this point someone just needs to end Trump for the sanity of us all. There stupid fucks won't get over his dick in their ass otherwise.
  
  I feel like Trump's ideology has taken over so much of right-wingers even he is out of the way, it will continue.
- Straight out of the Russian playbook. And for the same reason we can't let Putin win, these people can't be allowed to win.
- On fucking twatter

They'll sacrifice their lives for a person who is demonstrably the actual biggest loser in history, and he just gets more loser-y, folks, okay... If any of you are starting to have your memories fade, here's a quick refresher to read this morning and then copy and send to your aunt karen in Missouri.
0 re-elections won
1 term president
2 times impeached
3 marriages
4 inch lifts in his shoes
5 kids, from 3 different mothers
6 bankruptcies
7 US Capitol police suing him for Jan 6 terrorist insurrection and murder of police
8 trillion + dollars added to the US debt in a single term
9 trump lawyers sanctioned by federal judge for lying in frivolous election fraud lawsuits and ordered to pay defendant's legal fees
10 years that trump paid $0 in income taxes between 2000 and 2015. ($0 to cops, teachers, roads, prisons, disaster relief, etc)
11 trump associates charged with serious crimes over the past 5 years
12 million votes (the big lie) - trump claims he won the 2020 election by 12 million votes when in reality, he lost by about 7 million votes.
13 of August, 2021 - one of multiple days that trump was supposed to magically become president again according to Qanon and a crack addicted pillow salesman (the two most respected information sources in the gop)
14 year old girl in a youth choir that trump approached in 1992 to say, "Wow! Just think - in a couple years I'll be dating you."
15 originally confirmed cases of COVID in the US trump said would soon be, “down to close to zero.” followed by, “like a miracle, it will disappear.” - over 1,000,000 Americans have since died of COVID and it continues to kill 4 years later.
16 years old - age of daughter ivanka when she hosted "miss teen" pageant and, according to long time trump associate Noel Casler, "trump called her over in the middle of a rehearsal and had her give him a lap dance while he leered at the crew."
17 known trump and russia investigations from local, state and federal prosecutors
18 gop senators that ignored trump threats / warnings and supported Biden admin's infrastructure bill.
19 as in COVID19 - trump was verified as the single largest source of disinformation on the virus, with a Cornell study claiming that 38% of the "misinformation conversation" originated with trump
20 the day in January, 2021, when Biden was sworn in despite trump inciting a violent insurrection to stop election verification at the US Capitol.
21 gun salute that trump ordered for himself when he left office after a humiliating defeat, even though he never served in the military, famously called military members "losers" and "suckers" and actively avoided the draft with a cowardly "bone spurs" excuse.
22 date in August, 2021, when Alabama hate rally crowd booed trump for finally saying people should get vaccinated, only after 700,000 Americans have died due mostly to his failure as president
23 as in wrestlemania 23 in 2007 where trump, a cartoon level failure with no other prospects, participated in a fake bet that a proxy wrestler would win a fake fight on his behalf or he would shave his wig and hair plugs off.
24 day in August, 2021, when trump actually filed a lawsuit in Florida court against YouTube, a private company, demanding that they reinstate his YouTube channel like a desperate, irrelevant embarrassment with no platforms left to abuse.
25 plus credible sexual assault allegations against trump, spanning decades and with accusers starting as young as 13 years old at time of assault.
- And a partridge in a pear tree!

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!
If it applies equally to both, Biden shouldn't be taken off since he hasn't been found guilty of sedition ya dipshit.
- Because he didn't engage in, not found guilty of.
- There is no republican politician that isn't a hypocrite. It's their main super power and has served them well for decades.
  The only solution to this is to dissolve the republicunt party and bar everyone involved from holding public office as seditionists.
- Trump hasn't been found guilty of sedition either.
  Yes, I'm prepared for the down votes from a bunch of idiots who hate reality.
  
  Article 14 doesn’t stipulate guilt, just engaging in which the Colorado court determined he did. His removal is the result of due process. So if they can show in court that Biden did the same then sure…but they cannot.
  Not the same, purely partisan BS.
  
  Trump hasn't been found guilty of sedition either.
  Not in a court of law; but given all the evidence you have to be willfully ignorant to believe he isn't guilty of it and wouldn't receive a conviction if/when there actually is a trial.
  
  Correct. Trump hasn't been found guilty of sedition. He has been found guilty of insurrection by the Colorado supreme Court. He also hasn't been criminally convicted of insurrection, because this isn't a criminal case.
  Sedition and insurrection are different, and parts of different laws. Criminal and civil guilt are also different mechanisms of our laws, but the 14th amendment doesn't state someone needs to have a criminal conviction to be considered ineligible for office.
  
  You're not wrong. However by the text of the Constitution a guilty verdict isn't required to invalidate candidacy.
  
  Technically that is true. However, he was impeached for incitement of insurrection by the House of Representatives. The majority of the Senate then voted to remove him after impeachment, but not the 2/3s majority required.
  So no, not "found guilty of sedition". But he was impeached for inciting insurrection.
  
  So what, you're suggesting the reality is it was staged? Because we all observed reality with our real eyes in real time.

Yes if Joe Biden engages in insurrection then he should be excluded from the ballot. I just don't think that's particularly likely.

Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!"
It does. The legal standard does apply equally to everyone. And in fact the same standard has applied for 155 years.
- Doublespeak. Republicans actively work to twist the meaning of words to their base to fit their agenda, so that the other side playing by the rules and being fair looks like political cheating. That way Republicans can engage in political cheating themselves and claim self defense.
  In today's flavor, "legal standard" means "the ability to make us lose" so they want to apply their own "legal standard" to democrats.
  It sounds dumb to anyone paying attention, but their voters will eat this up.
- The legal standard does apply equally to everyone. And in fact the same standard has applied for 155 years.
  under the law, in it's fairness, it is just as illegal for the billionaire to sleep under a bridge as it is for the homeless
  fuck laws
  also, fuck politicians.

Waaaahhhh my candidate got kicked off so I'm going to retaliate and try to kick the other guy off. Good luck at the Supreme Court.
- With how stacked the Court is for righties, I wouldn't be surprised.
- It’s literally all the GOP really has been trying to accomplish since Nixon. They did it to our guy so we have to get them back somehow.

The reason the government is called a republic is because it follows laws and established proceedures.
Now Team Trump is advocating pure mob rule.
And people think its cool.
- They're not actually advocating for mob rule, mob rule is only acceptable if it's the mob rule that accomplishes what they want.
  
  Mobs are usually told what to want.

The DOJ should investigate this guy for supporting insurrection, too.

It's not new. It already applies equally. Biden wasn't part of an insurrection.

Didn't know children could be Secretary of State. Missouri has low standards.
- Missouri has low standards.
  They always did. It's the Florida of the Midwest.
  
  All that comes to mind when I see this guy's face is:
  !
  !<
  
  Don't you dare say that. Then Wisconsin will start feeling like they have to become the Alabama of the Midwest and everything will go to hell.
- Every so often Missouri does the right thing, like elect a dead guy
- I mean... America has low standards, Missouri is just a symptom of the disease.

I'm voting Biden. But if the Democrats would suggest maybe someone else from the 150million rational thinking American population who are not Republican, I would vote for that person. Joe has done a good job. I just don't wanna be sitting here in my toilet writing about how terrible the situation is 2 years from now when we loose Joe to stress and need a new president. So obviously not Trump or any other rock-like object or non-human organic matter composition. But any human who loves this country and wants us to do even better would be nice.
- 124 million. People old enough to be president who don't vote for Trump.
  Yeah I get invited to all the parties.
- He's actually made of compressed Cheeto dust.
- I’ll volunteer. Am eligible, and was president of an HOA at some point, I’m sure those skills scale. Also, not a Cheeto, nor rock, nor non-human organic matter composition.
  
  I'll vote for you 😉.

Kindergarten recess is more mature than US politics.
- It's intentional. Jerry Springer Goes To Congress.
  
  I assume you know he was a politician as well?

Neat, I didn't know Biden also engaged in insurrection. This guy seems very wise!
- You don't, but they are certain of it. It's clearly been an insurrection all these years, since when the democrats colluded with the lizard people to administer the vaccine and steal the elections. It's obvious if you think about it.
  
  [solemn serious face] My god, how did we not see it before.
- He should be wise. 44 years old and his entire career has been political appointments to cosplay as a lawyer.
- Insurrection doesn't seem to be very strongly defined.
  Maybe simply running against an incumbent president is insurrectionalist.
  
  That's like if you assaulted someone, and then claiming you didn't assault them because you think assault isn't strongly defined.
  It's just a very stupid and slimy way of saying you think laws shouldn't apply to you.
  
  The current SCOTUS claims to be using the "common meaning of words" as their interpretation mechanism for the Constitution.
  Assuming they have any bit of consistency whatsoever, the common meaning of words gives at least prima facie argument against Trump being able to run with zero argument against Biden being able to run.
  And lucky us, the current SCOTUS has not really shown loyalty to Trump as a person. Here's hoping that sticks around.

Trump can do no wrong. Therefore, any action taken against him must be unjustified. So it can only ever be political, and therefore, it's only fair that we do the same to Biden.
The best part is, they recognize that this is terrible for democracy, that this being normalized would be a disaster, and then say they are going to do it anyway. They are admitting that rather than accept the outcome of the legal process for settling these kinds of situations, and respecting the rule of law, they would rather damage our society to get their victory by any means necessary.
Which is pretty much how we got here in the first place, when Trump couldn't accept an election or dozens of court cases all telling him he lost.
- TL;DR: they're fascist traitors committing sedition and need to be treated as such.
  
  The fact that democrats don't treat them as such shows that they're complicit in the march to fascism.

You mean to tell me John Ashcroft's son is a bit of a douche, too?!?
- Why are you being so nice to Jay Ashcroft by calling him a bit of a douche?
  
  My bad. Full douche. Just like his daddy. Feel free to come up with a more descriptive term if you're feeling creative, too!

Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!
I swear these people shouldn't even be trusted with anything sharper than a spoon. This is how you fucking conduct work!? You respond to people's Twatter account about legal actions. Jesus tap dancing Christ.
- Clearly you have never been in prison. Do you know what you can do with a spoon and a little bit of time...
  
  What you really need is a rock hammer.
  
  Correct I have not been to prison.

Just to fantasize a bit, it'd be hilarious if these "Duck season! Wabbit season!" Shenanigans resulted in both Democrats and Republicans mutually excluding each other from a majority of ballots, and third parties had to fill in the gaps.
- Polite reminder that third parties are not viable in a first past the post voting system, and that Democrats are the ones who have actually been instituting ranked choice voting (while Republicans are the ones taking it away & banning it)
  
  Great insight. Thank you!

Yeah so THAT wouldn't hold up to a SCOTUS hearing. Rather if it does we may as well ignore SCTOUS forevermore.
- Why are the comments here acting like the SCOTUS stands for anything but toeing Republican line? The court is more stacked than it has been for decades and these people will gladly sell-out the Constitution to score political power for Republicans.
  
  Pretty sure three of them literally got their positions in return for their work on the Bush v. Gore case in 2000 that led to the first GW Bush Presidency.
  John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett all worked for the Bush campaign on that case.
  People have been lying to themselves about this one for a long time. Roberts is chief justice, and Bush elevated him there in 2005. It's just become much more egregious and mask-off since then because they're pretty damned sure the public can't actually do anything about it so they've stopped giving a shit about pretending.
  
  Because of their own self-interest and protecting judiciary power for themselves?
  
  They didn't let Trump argue his election lies. Sometimes they can surprise you.

Oh look, Republicans being less mature than Kindergartners... again

do it then, just like the impeachment. quit removed and do something so we can put you down again you fucking cowards.
- That was my favorite when GOP cried for Biden Impeachment and how weak they look when they literally had nothing.
  They continue to show how limp dick they are.
  
  What scares me is they look impotent to anyone who is able to think critically or at all, really, but these theatrics are actually effective for their low IQ base. Whenever their latest bullshit plan doesn't work, they just blame some communist conspiracy, which further riles the idiots up.

Just a friendly reminder that it is Republicans who are kicking, or attempting to, kick trump off the ballot. If they want to change The Constitution, there is an amendment process. Until then, The Constitution is very clear on the topic.
- 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.

"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!"
Sure. If Biden launches his own insurrection I think no one would hold it against you.
- I wonder if he also wants the absolute immunity that Trump claims to have to this day to also apply to Biden?
  
  Negatives to Trump must be applied equally
  Positives to Biden must be applied equally
  Positives to Trump or Negatives to Biden mustn't be
  That's what Republicans call "Fairness"

Sounds like Missouri should be taken off the ballot.

Most of the time I forget Missouri exists, it's nice. Then some asshole has to come along and ruin it.
- https://youtu.be/_2_I81mlExc?si=KOZAXfMB_yW-y9OU&t=110

Don't you just love it how they all completely ignore and fly over the actual reason why trump is being dumped? They just claim it's a disgrace that trump is dropped, as if random people decided to do this on a whim, but will NEVER mention why they made that decision. Never mention that trump instigated an insurrection, we wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea now, would we?
- Well the whole thing can be solved by an actual conviction of treason. If it is obvious his actions were treasonous and he did in fact lead an insurrection, it should be an easy case.

- I just overheard some morons at my workplace complaining how all the "goddamn lib cities" are the reason the Republicans don't have a stranglehold and that votes should be based on how much land you own, not per person. These morons are from Missouri. I'm sorry you have to deal with them.
  
  "how much land you own" lmfaooo remind them how much land Bill Gates owns and watch them trip over their own feet trying to amend that statement.
- Kansas City too...
- Grandpa Simpson had the right idea.
- That's pretty much how it is in every state. Cities have become islands of civilization in a sea of foolishness and ignorance.
  The ironic thing is, rural communities can't exist without the subsidies that come from cities. Fox News managed to convince them to hate the very people funding their lifestyle.
- Oh yeah, st. Louis, the shining bastion of how great a city can be. Get over yourself.
  
  Not great over there. Rednecks for days. Awful race relations. Like, really bad.
  
  Look everyone, it's someone who has nothing intelligent, useful, or interesting to say, yet they still felt like joining in, so instead provided about the most useless, smooth-brained criticism possible.
  Gotta love it when someone tries to rip on someone but instead just shows everyone they're a low-effort moron. 5/5 self own.

Trump: Does insurrection, disqualified from running
Biden: Doesn't commit insurrection or any other crimes that might disqualify him from running.
GOP: We'll step in & ensure the new legal standard for Trump applies equally to Biden
Whataboutism politics in action. They're not even defending him, it's just, "Well if you're going to do that we'll just do it back to you!"--
- This is always how the GOP responds. Their voters don't know any better and assume everyone is doing the crime because they were told so. If everyone is doing it, it's okay. Zero thought, all emotional rage bait.
- GOP: We’ll step in & ensure the new legal standard for Trump applies equally to Biden
  Well jokes on them because Biden couldnt get trump back on the ballot in any of the states hes kicked off in even if he wanted to, cuz it really has nothing to do with Biden and he has no control over whats states decide to do or how they interpret the constitution.
  And I think if anyone of them do take Biden off the ballot it'll trigger some kind of law suit because they currently cannot show any cause for taking him off.

At least they're honest that they are just being fascists and it's not because Biden did anything wrong. Wish that actually mattered here.

Of course, because Biden is the one who directly violated the 4th Amendment by instigating a failed attempt to overthrow our democracy. So naturally he's the one who should be removed from ballots! /s
Whether they are just deliberately obtuse, utterly engulfed in tribalistic spite, or just so blinded by idiotic conspiracy theories (or some mix of all) doesn't really matter. The people arguing that Biden should be removed on this topic are unfit to be in any position of responsibility or power.

This man's dad lost an election to a fucking corpse, he was such a piece of shit. GWB went and made that piece of shit the country's AG. The shit apple clearly does not fall from the shit tree.
- Words of wisdom, Lahey.

Oh Jesus fucking Christ.
I fucking live in this shit hole state. What'll happen if he actually does this?
- Biden might not reel in that electoral sweep that's been forecasted for Missouri (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Missouri)...
  Real talk though, elections matter and this is not a "both sides bad" situation. Specific policy disagreements with one side and the systematic dismantling of the American government are not equivalent criticisms.
  Vote and bring a friend. Every year, the number of eligible voters who don't show up at the polls represent a big enough voting block to win the election outright. While you face almost impossible odds persuading a member of the opposite political party to switch sides, after college age, it is entirely possible to convince someone to get in the car with you and vote (even better to mail in where possible).
  Mobilization is what will decide 2024, not persuasion. Everyone needs to remember that despite 2020's outcome, the election was decided by fewer voters than you can fit inside a football stadium (due to our electoral college fun times). If you live in GA, AZ, WI, PN, NC, NV, or MI—You. Must. Vote! ...preferably early.
  Cynics who tell you otherwise do not understand how much harder it is to rebuild a system than it is to maintain one. This one needs significant maintenance, like back to the shop engine work. We will not have a repair shop left to go to if we don't get out the vote right now.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_United_States_presidential_elections
  
  Yup.
  That said, "bring a friend" also means "talk to your friends." There are a lot of people influenced by both right wing propaganda, and false-left-wing propaganda from bad faith actors that says "Biden is old, don't vote for him" or "Biden didn't get us [insert left-wing wish list entry]." The early polls are somehow showing Trump ahead of Biden with under-35 voters, which is mind-boggling.
  Be the influence you want to see. Talk to people around you that you think will listen, and make sure they understand the stakes and how much their vote matters. If you want to protest, protest in a way that doesn't directly create fascism please.

I thought Republicans support state's rights
- Only for the having of slaves
  
  Nonsense, don't you know your history? Democrats were the ones who owned slaves! It was the republicans that freed them!
  Party switch? What party switch? And what does the Confederate flag on my pickup have to do with anything?

good luck moron
reactionaries run their mouth first and seek method as an afterthought
- Especially when they aren't reelected for saying something so idiotic.

They all have the thought process of a 12 year old and so that’s how democracy dies I guess.
- Nah, it's easy to win intellectual fights with 12yr olds. Don't stop fighting, their arguments are hollow, and the have ineffective arguments.
  
  There is no intellectual fight going on, they just say whatever needs to be true to justify their shitty action at any given moment. They know they're full of shit, they don't care.

I'm acually surprised that they used "social media site X" and didn't add "formerly known as Twitter" First time I'm seeing this.

A sophisticated and formidable legal mind in a pleasant, debonaire package. Truly his cup overfloweth.
How did Missouri get so lucky?

Undermines the dictatorship we want….

They really think it was done for political reasons and is just a team sport
- You may be giving them too much credit. They know what they tried to do.
  
  Agreed. We need to stop pretending GOP leadership are idiots and treat them like the organized threat they are.

"What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic,"
What happened in the national capitol on Jan6 is disgraceful and undermines the republic.
The people trying to clean up after that mess are not the problem, you pandering old windbag.

Go for it. It'll get overturned in court and we'll get more news coverage of why Trump getting removed from the ballot is valid, but Biden getting removed isn't.
- Nothing will get through to Trump's cult. They're incapable of seeing that Trump is facing consequences for breaking the law, because to them he can literally do no wrong. All they'll ever see is people being mean to their Lord and Savior.

Is there an equivalent of /r/JustFuckMyShitUp here? Yikes, this guy is rocking one atrocious haircut.

Good thing Missouri secretary of state isn't in any way shape or form a real job. Or him wasting taxpayers dollars with this political stunt would really piss off the overweight illiterate trailer park inhabitants of the state.
It's honestly better for them as it gives this writhing mass of cancerous maggots parading as a human and it's staff less time to research and decline to participate in federal aid programs that don't specifically give the money to corporations and police.

The problem with this "oh, yeah! Just you wait, I'll get you back!" Is that the states that removed Trump had a legal justification. He on the other hand is just talking shit, and that doesn't hold up in court.
- Unfortunately it will with Maga judges

A 200lb sack of bleached all-purpose flour with a four-dollar Flowbee haircut
- What is Mike Pence?
  Damnit, that's basically all of them.
- deleted by creator
  
  Steal his look for less!… oh wait.

Pretty sure that is sedition

Ashcroft is a real piece of shit garbage. Even shittier than his father, which is saying something. The embodiment of the Mitchell and Webb "Are we the baddies?" Nazi bit.