Veteran GOP Lawyer Rips Trump Over ‘Certainly Not Constitutional’ and Unconservative Election Takeover Push

Veteran lawyer and academic in Republican elections Benjamin Ginsberg joins CNN Jake Tapper Tuesday to discuss the president that of Donald Trump highly controversial call for the Republican Party to “nationalize” the elections.

Tapper began the exchange by noting: “From a legal perspective, you told me that you view President Trump’s push to nationalize the election, or whatever he’s talking about, through the lens of things Trump has already said or advocated for — particularly his March 25 executive order titled ‘Preserve and Protect the Integrity of America’s Elections’ and this Truth Social post in August where Trump wrote, quote, ‘Voter ID must be part of every vote.’ No exceptions. decree for this purpose. Also, no mail-in voting except for those who are very sick and military personnel on the move,” in which he also explained that states are vessels for the federal government. So tell me about his thinking and whether you think any of this is constitutional or legal?

Ginsberg responded: “It’s certainly not constitutional or legal. The Constitution gives the power to hold elections in the states. Congress can make rules for Senate and congressional elections. The president has no authority under the Constitution to do what he suggests. So, legally speaking, it’s wrong. Now, can the president, as president,…do things that we don’t anticipate now? Well, he has a habit of doing that. And his rhetoric has been pretty clear on that. He said he would have liked to seize the ballots and the voting machines after the 2020 election.”

Tapper added: “Yeah, you said that to THE New York Times a few days ago, yeah.

Ginsberg continued: “And I mean, this is consistent with the executive order that you mentioned, saying that the states were a vessel for the federal government. It turns on its head the principles of federalism and even the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, which gives powers to the states. What’s most surprising, Jake, is that for years and years, conservatives and Republicans have embraced an article of faith that power should come from the bottom up to the federal government. Many members of the Senate American, from the United States House of Representatives, on the right now, they’ve stood for this throughout their career, and all of a sudden it’s been turned upside down.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

Veteran GOP lawyer rips Trump over ‘definitely unconstitutional’, unconservative election takeover campaign appeared first on Mediaite.