CNN’s Boris Sanchez on Monday held Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s (R) feet to the fire over his suggestion that President Joe Biden had participated in insurrection.

Sanchez asked Ashcroft, amid a heated discussion on whether former President Donald Trump should be allowed back on the 2024 ballot in Colorado and Maine, what would be his “justification for removing Joe Biden from the ballot in Missouri.”

“Has he engaged in your mind in some kind of insurrection?” Sanchez questioned Missouri’s top election official.

“Uh, there have been allegations that he’s engaged in insurrection,” Ashcroft replied.

“How so?” asked Sanchez.

“No. Please let me finish,” responded Ashcroft.

Sanchez told Ashcroft, “You can’t say something like that and not back it up.”

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

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

The back and forth continued until Sanchez again asked, “What did Joe Biden do in your mind that equates insurrection? What allegations are you talking about?”

As Ashcroft referenced vague allegations, Sanchez asked for “the specifics.”

“They made allegations and all it took 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,” said Ashcroft.

“I think it depends to a degree,” replied Sanchez.

Ashcroft said Biden was Sanchez’s “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,” he addd. “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.”

Ashcroft last week threatened to remove Biden from Missouri’s ballot after Colorado and Maine booted Trump from theirs for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic,” Ashcroft wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “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!”

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