Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said a lawsuit trying to keep him off Pennsylvania's Republican primary ballot is only being backed by Democrats because they know they can't defeat him in a fair campaign.
The lawsuit filed Jan. 2 by liberal activist Gene Stilp mimics attempts by Democrats in several other states to keep former President Donald Trump off their primary ballots, citing Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which disqualifies from office those who engage in insurrection against the Constitution after taking an oath to support it.
The Colorado Supreme Court disqualified Trump over Section 3, even though Trump has never been charged with insurrection, a ruling that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in February. Democrat Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows pulled Trump off her state's primary ballot for the same reason, and her decision is being appealed in state court.
Perry, a former chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, voted against certifying the 2020 election results that Trump claims were rife with voter fraud. Like Trump, he has never been charged with insurrection.
"Nobody is even on the ballot in Pennsylvania yet," Perry told "Rob Schmitt Tonight." "That doesn't happen for another month. But in the interest of having everybody make their choice and having their choice in America, they're going to try and remove not only myself, but of course, the former president of the United States from your possible selections, and they're trying to use the Fourteenth Amendment.
"I suspect they've never read the Fourteenth Amendment because if they had, they would know what this is about and it's not about removing people from the ballot who haven't been accused of anything. Haven't been charged with anything. Haven't been the target of an investigation and haven't done anything wrong. They just can't win."
Perry said the maneuvering is an embarrassment for the Democratic Party because they "can't win on the merits, so this is what they do."
"Meanwhile, people like me are focused on the things that the American people are concerned about, like the fact that 300,000 people came across the [U.S. southern] border illegally last month," he said. "By the time by this presidency is over, there will be more people having come across the southern border illegally than live in Pennsylvania."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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