Replacing Joe Biden With Kamala Harris On The Democratic Ticket Is Not A ‘Coup’

A noted election law scholar thinks these ‘legal’ arguments concerning Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are complete trash.
The post Replacing Joe Biden With Kamala Harris On The Democratic Ticket Is Not A ‘Coup’ appeared first on Above the Law.

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

With news of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, some Republicans are claiming he cannot be removed from the presidential ballot in November and in any case it is undemocratic to do so. The first claim is legally unsupported and the second one is ludicrous. I fully expect the Democrats’ legitimate nominees for president and vice president to be listed on the ballot in November. …

It takes a special kind of chutzpah for Trump supporters to say it’s a “coup” when Democrats conduct a fair and democratic process for replacing a withdrawn candidate. Trumpists could learn a lot about the democratic process in watching what’s happening on the other side of the aisle.

— Professor Richard Hasen of UCLA Law, a noted election law scholar, in a column written for Slate, where he gently chides Republican detractors’ “legal” claims concerning Joe Biden’s decision to leave the presidential race and his ultimate support for Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor nominee for the Democratic party, saying, “Democrats coming together with a fair vote and choosing another nominee after the leading candidate has withdrawn is an example of the process working, not failing.”

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.