House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he could foresee “legal hurdles” in some states if President Biden is replaced as the Democratic nominee.
He told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” in an interview that took place before Mr. Biden actually did drop out, that Democrats will have “real problems” if Mr. Biden is pushed to be replaced.
“I mean, every state has their own election system. That’s our constitutional system,” said Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican. “That’s the way it’s done. And in some of these states, it’s a real hurdle. They have a real problem of replacing the nominee on the top of the ticket.”
“Joe Biden was chosen after a long, small-d democratic process by 14 million people emerging through that primary,” he said. “It will be very interesting to see if the so-called party of democracy, the Democrats, go into a backroom somewhere and switch it out and put someone else at the top of the ticket.”
Other Republican lawmakers such as Senate Leader Mitch McConnell spoke similarly Sunday after Mr. Biden dropped out and he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, to an increasing chorus of Democratic senior figures, including former President Bill Clinton and 2016 nominee Hillary Clinton.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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