CNN’s Boris Sanchez Rebuts Missouri Election Official By Reading From His Own State’s Constitution in Devastating Clash

CNN anchor Boris Sanchez grilled Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft on Monday over the legality of Ashcroft’s vow to remove President Joe Biden from the ballot in his state if the Supreme Court allows former President Donald Trump to be removed in other states.

“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!” Ashcroft, the son of former Bush Attorney General John Ashcroft, wrote on X Friday.

Sanchez and Ashcroft sparred repeatedly during the interview, which got particularly heated when the CNN anchor was forced to read from Missouri’s state constitution to correct a claim from Ashcroft.

“Um, the brief that I will be filing with the United States Supreme Court is not going to say that President Trump was a bad person. It’s not going to say that he’s a good person. What it’s going to say is that this extra-judicial means of removing people from the ballot is catastrophic to our country if it’s allowed to continue, because if Democrats can do it, you know that Republicans will do it. And if Republicans will do it then Democrats will do it more,” Ashcroft said.

“To that point, secretary, in order to remove President Biden from the ballot, according to your state constitution, you would need to go to court,” Sanchez clarified, asking, “What do you think would be your strongest argument?”

“Not, not at all,” Ashcroft shot back.

“Your state constitution actually states that the Secretary of State lacks authority to assess qualifications of a candidate, to determine whether to place a candidate’s name on a primary ballot. That’s according to Section 15-387 of your state constitution,” Sanchez replied, reading from the document.

“Sir, sir. What I’m saying is, if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling out of Colorado,” Ashcroft replied as Sanchez interjected, “Which went to court to disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot, so you, according to your state constitution, would need to go to court.”

“Sir, let’s just be clear. First of all, you’ve already said you’re not an attorney and you don’t know what happened in Colorado,” Ashcroft hit back.

“I know what happened in Colorado, sir. What I said was that I didn’t read through all of the evidence specifically to be able to qualify, whether there was hearsay or not. To get back to my question. You said that you would decide to remove Joe Biden from the ballot in your state according to your state constitution, which I just read to you from. It says you need to go to court. I’m asking you what you think your strongest argument is?” Sanchez replied, not missing a beat.

“And I continue to try to answer your questions, and you continue to try to tell me stuff that just isn’t true,” Ashcroft replied.

After a lengthy back and forth regarding the role of the Supreme Court in the decision to keep Trump on or off the ballot in Colorado and Maine, Sanchez then asked, “I’m wondering, though, what would then be your justification for removing Joe Biden from the ballot in Missouri? Has he engaged in your mind in some kind of insurrection?”

“Uh, there have been allegations that he’s engaged in insurrection,” Ashcroft replied as Sanchez immediately asked for examples.

“I am continuing, but you interrupted me before I could back it up. Are you scared of the truth?” Ashcroft hit back.

“Oh, I’m not terrified of the truth at all. It seems like you might be. Let’s hear what you have to say,” Sanchez replied.

“What did Joe Biden do in your mind that equates insurrection? What allegations are you talking about?” Sanchez pressed again after Ashcroft tried to pivot.

Ashcroft then cited allegations from Texas and Florida, adding, “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.”

Sanchez replied saying it’s a question of “degree,” to which Ashcroft said of course he would say that about “his guy.”

“My guy, Joe Biden is not my guy. 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,” Sanchez hit back.

The two continued to debate the points and Sanchez ended the issue on a conciliatory note as Ashcroft rolled his eyes.

Watch the full clip above via CNN.