Sen. Ron Johnson said Tuesday on "The Faulkner Focus" that the effort to remove former President Trump from states' ballots is only the latest example of the radical left trying to "tear this country apart." Johnson, R-Wis., said America is being divided "from the left" and criticized the mainstream media for acting as advocates and activists.
TRUMP DISQUALIFIED FROM MAINE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY BALLOT
RON JOHNSON: I try and point out the fact that the radical left has infiltrated every institution in this country, including our media. These secretaries of state, these individuals that are doing it, these courts that are pushing these types of measures, that are pushing them off the ballot. They're not getting criticized in the mainstream media, by and large, other than the hand-wringing of some of their political operatives who think maybe this won't be helpful in the general election. But by and large, they do this with impunity in terms of the public pressure and pressure from the mainstream media, because the mainstream media, by and large, are advocates for the left. …
We saw the riots in the summer of 2020. We don't see the FBI undertaking a massive effort to round up those individuals … because they're riding from the left. Instead, they've done a massive investigation into anybody even showing up at the Capitol on January 6th, if you're a potential domestic terrorist, a MAGA Republican. So, no, there's not a level playing field. It's not a fair fight. Again, the left has infiltrated every institution in this country. Our federal agencies, our school systems, our media and that is the danger to our democracy.
The Maine election official who disqualified former President Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot said on Monday that politics did not influence her decision.
Last week, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, ruled that Trump was barred from running for president in her state because he allegedly "engaged in insurrection" through his actions leading up to and during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
"Politics and my personal views played no role," Bellows told NPR in an interview. "I swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and that is what I did."
Her controversial decision followed a similar ruling by Colorado's state Supreme Court that cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars candidates who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States from holding federal elected office.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
