NH Secretary of State Pulls Back After Backlash - 'Not Seeking To Remove Any Names" From 2024 Ballot

Following a massive public response to reports from Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk, New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan (R-NH) reportedly told news outlets Monday that his office is "not seeking to remove any names," from the 2024 Republican primary ballot.

Kirk had urged his audience to contact Scanlan's office and register their opinions after reports emerged that he was considering a 14th Amendment motion to remove 45th President Donald Trump from the New Hampshire ballot.

According to Breitbart News, Scanlan met with Attorney Bryant “Corky” Messner for discussions about Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment on Friday. The pertinent clause establishes that public officials who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States are not eligible to hold office.

Trending Politics' Collin Rugg reported that Messner, a Trump-endorsed former State Senate candidate, introduced the concept to Scanlan. 

“I really don’t view myself as turning on Trump, as odd as that sounds. I love this country. I’ve served this country. I’ve taken an oath to this country. My sons are serving right now and I believe someone’s got to step up to defend the Constitution.”

“Someone needs to take some action legally so this thing can get in front of the Supreme Court sooner rather than later to interpret this section," Messner said.

Radical leftist legal scholars including Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe and retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig argued in The Atlantic that “The disqualification clause operates independently of any such criminal proceedings and, indeed, also independently of impeachment proceedings and of congressional legislation,” nonsensically forwarding the notion that this clause bypasses the constitutional right to due process.

Scanlan told The Boston Globe, cited by Breitbart, "Not being a lawyer and not wanting to make a decision in a vacuum, I will be soliciting some legal opinions on what is appropriate or not before I make any decision,” adding, "I have some in-house staff attorneys that are election experts. I will be asking the attorney general’s office for their input. And ultimately whatever is decided is probably going to require some judicial input.”

On Monday, Kirk revealed this to his audience saying, "I don’t care if you live in New Hampshire or not. It should be a nationwide movement of people contacting, because this impacts everybody." 

"We’re gonna break the phone lines and say, ‘Who do you think you are for even entertaining this?’”

Within a matter of hours, Scanlan told NBC News, that he's "not seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot, and I have not said that I am seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot."

Kirk told Breitbart, “We must stay vigilant against any and all efforts to stop Trump from being on the primary ballot.”

He cautioned leaders, “The grassroots are watching and active.”

Scanlan told reporters that Messner “made a presentation to me about what he is thinking in terms of making a challenge to the former president’s qualifications.”

“I listened, just as I would listen to anybody that wants to come in with issues related to any candidate’s qualifications one way or the other,” Scanlan added.

“I intend to be prepared by seeking appropriate legal input so that when the time comes to make a decision on those challenges, to qualifications, that I can respond appropriately with the facts.”