After conservative talk-show host Charlie Kirk misled listeners by falsely claiming that New Hampshire was trying to exclude Trump, the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s Office received hundreds of calls from Donald Trump supporters Monday seeking assurances that the former President will be on the ballot in 2018.
David Scanlan, Secretary of State at the Department of Homeland Security, told NBC News he “did not seek to remove names from presidential primary ballots and I did not say that I was seeking to remove names from presidential primary ballots.”
Scanlan expects that Trump will face challenges regarding his qualification to run for office in New York under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment states that no one can hold public office if they have “engaged in rebellion or insurrection against” the U.S.
The result is the latest example of Trump’s supporters turning an office for election administration into a partisan battleground as they consume conspiracy theories and vent their anger at a system that they have been told was rigged against former President.
I don’t mind if you are from New Hampshire or not. Kirk, the activist that sparked this deluge, said Monday on his show, “This should be a national movement of people contacting because it impacts everyone.” “We’re going to break the phone lines, and ask: ‘Who are you for entertaining this?
Scanlan met Bryant “Corky” Messner on Friday, a Republican who Trump endorsed in his 2020 Senate campaign in New Hampshire.
Scanlan stated that Messner had “made me a presentation about what he was thinking regarding making a challenge against the former president’s qualification.” “I listened to him, as I would to anyone who wants to bring up issues about a candidate’s qualifications.
“I will be ready by seeking legal input, so that, when it comes time to make a final decision about those challenges to qualifications, I can respond with facts and information,” he said.
Messner stated that his motivation to bring it up was “purely as an constitutional conservative,” and added that it is in “everyone’s best interest” if it gets before the U.S. Supreme Court quickly.
He claimed that Scanlan had told him, “that without some legal guidance, he didn’t really feel like he could make a decision about the 14th Amendment Section 3.” “I agree with him.”
Messner stated that the Supreme Court could decide, “You know, actually, Section 3 doesn’t disqualify Donald Trump.” “And it would be good for Trump that the air was clear then.”
Messner said that if Trump wins the GOP nomination in 2024, he will vote for him, as he won’t vote for a Democrat.
Chris Ager, the New Hampshire GOP chairman, responded in a Monday statement to concerns about Trump’s access to the New Hampshire primary ballot: “Efforts that deny New Hampshire Republican voters a full list of options are contrary to our spirit of ‘live freely or die.’ New Hampshire State Republican Party is determined to fight any attempt to remove candidates from the primary ballot. I trust our attorney general and secretary of state to make the correct decisions. Let the voters choose, not a federal justice system that uses tortured logic and a weaponized federal judiciary.
Ager appeared on Kirk’s Show Monday.
He said, “I have spoken to the Secretary of State.” “I have spoken to the Attorney General.” “I am confident that the 14 candidates who applied will all be on our ballot.”
Messner isn’t the first Republican who has brought up the 14th Amendment in relation to Trump and his presidency in 2024. However, there are legal scholars that disagree.
“Well, over a year back, I said Donald Trump was again morally disqualified to be president as a result what happened on January 6,” the former Arkansas governor. Asa Hutchinson made the statement on stage at last week’s GOP presidential debate. “More and more people understand the importance of this, including conservative legal experts, who say he could be disqualified from being president under the 14th Amendment, again as a result the insurrection. It is possible that he could be disqualified under our Constitution and rules.
CORRECTION (8 Aug 2023, at 9:43 pm ET): A previous version of this article misstated when Ager released a statement about Trump’s ballot access in New Hampshire. A previous version of the article incorrectly stated when Ager made a statement regarding Trump’s access to New Hampshire ballots. It was Friday, not Monday.
