Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes admitted he cannot exclude former President Donald Trump from the ballot in his state, The Hill reported. Democrats claim Trump's supposed incitement of an "insurrection" Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol is grounds for disqualifying him from becoming president.
Fontes made this admission Wednesday on "The Gaggle" podcast amid calls to bar Trump from running for office. President Joe Biden's surrogates claim it can be done under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits people who "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding office.
However, the Arizona Democrat corrected the record. "Now, the Arizona Supreme Court said that because there’s no statutory process in federal law to enforce Section 3 of the 14th amendment, you can’t enforce it," Fontes said on the podcast created by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com.
"That’s what the Arizona Supreme Court said, so that’s the state of the law in Arizona. Now, do I agree with that? No, that’s stupid," Fontes added.
He was not shy about expressing his disagreement with the way the Grand Canyon State's high court interpreted the statute but conceded to its authority. "What I’m saying is I’m going to follow the law," Fontes said.
"And the law in Arizona is what the law in Arizona is. Whether I like it or not is irrelevant," he added.
It was obvious from day one that the left was intent on making sure Trump would never be able to hold public office again. In fact, the final vote on Trump's second impeachment over the Jan. 6 riot happened well after he left office, according to CNN.
The narrative to begin the process from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was that Trump "must go" because he was "a clear and present danger." Still, other Democrats were saying the quiet part out loud anyway, Fox News reported.
"One of the other purposes of impeachment, in this case, is to make sure that President Trump is not able to run for federal office again, that he’s not able to seek the presidency," Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said at the time. Fellow impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MO) also noted that the U.S. Constitution "talks about conviction, removal, and disqualification from holding further public office."
Amid Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's hyperbolic claims about the danger of Trump remaining in office, the New York Democrat also gave up the true motive. Cortez echoed Pelosi's claim of the "clear and present danger" posed by Trump remaining in office but added that "we’re also talking about complete barring of the president, or rather of Donald Trump, from running for office ever again."
Now, two leftist nonprofit groups have promised to sue precisely to that end, the Associated Press reported. In fact, Free Speech For People started the process in 2021 with letters to election authorities in every state demanding Trump's removal from the ballot should he decide to run.
Ron Fein, legal director for Free Speech for People, said the matter is already getting more traction among election officials. "The framers of the 14th Amendment learned the bloody lesson that, once an oath-breaking insurrectionist engages in insurrection, they can’t be trusted to return to power," Fein said.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is also planning a challenge. "This isn’t a punishment. It’s like saying a president needs to be 35 years old and a natural-born citizen," the group's president, Noah Bookbinder, said. "You also need not to have helped organize an uprising against the government."
Biden and his ilk are scared to death that Trump will become the nominee and once again take his place in the Oval Office. They will do anything to stop him, even if it means misusing the legal system against him.
