ICYMI: Columbus Dispatch: Two Republicans On Ohio Supreme Court Won’t Weigh In on 2020 Election Results
September 22, 2022
Columbus, OH — In case you missed it, the Columbus Dispatch reported today that two Republican Supreme Court Justices refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 election. Instead, Sharon Kennedy refused to answer the question and all Pat Fischer could muster was: “I don’t know. I guess. He’s the president, isn’t he?” And Pat DeWine simply answered he had no reason to believe the 2020 election results weren’t legitimate.
This all follows the justices’ appearance at a Trump rally Saturday where he repeated his false claims about the 2020 election being stolen.
“Republican Supreme Court justices are clearly more beholden to MAGA Republicans and their political party than the rule of law. If these justices can’t muster the courage to acknowledge the truth out of fear of political retribution, they certainly can’t be trusted to rule fairly and impartially from the bench. Ohioans deserve better,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.
Read more from the Columbus Dispatch here and below:
- The three Republican justices running for the Ohio Supreme Court acknowledge that Joe Biden is president but two of them sidestepped the question of whether the 2020 election results are legitimate.
- “Biden is the president. I’m not going to talk about the election. There are cases pending,” said Justice Sharon Kennedy, who is running against fellow Justice Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, for chief justice.
- “I don’t know. I guess. He’s the president, isn’t he?” said Justice Patrick Fischer. When asked if the 2020 election results are legitimate, Fischer said: “I don’t know if I’m allowed to take a position because I understand there is still some litigation… Under our ethics rules, I can’t talk about any pending cases in the United States or its territories.”
- Justice Pat DeWine acknowledged that Biden is president and when asked if the election results were legitimate, DeWine said he had no reason to believe otherwise.
- All three Republicans attended the Donald Trump rally in Youngstown on Saturday where the former president falsely claimed, again, that the 2020 election was rigged.
- Fischer is being challenged by 10th District Court Appeals Judge Terri Jamison, who says the 2020 election results are legitimate.
- “I made an oath to uphold the laws and the constitution, both federal and state. Despite the unlawful attempts to stop it, the nation’s presidential vote was certified by Congress and no court has found that process invalid,” Jamison said.
- DeWine, who is the governor’s eldest son, is being challenged by 1st District Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas, who agrees that Biden is president. “Each state certified its electoral results, the electoral votes were cast and counted, and President Biden received 306 votes, more than the required 270 electoral votes,” Zayas said.
- Brunner, a Democrat running for chief justice against Kennedy, said “The nation’s 2020 presidential vote was certified according to the rule of law by Congress, and no governmental body or court has found the 2020 presidential election to be invalid. I respect the rule of law as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.”
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