Arizona Republican's bill kicks Joe Biden off the ballot if Donald Trump is disqualified

The exercise of government on every level always has involved elements of political theater.

In Arizona these days it’s just … theater. Zero governing.

If there were governing, it would work like this:

The Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature, knowing it can pass just about any legislation it wants, but hoping to prevent those bills from being vetoed by Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, would seek the input of its brothers and sisters across the aisle and perhaps even try reach some type of compromise.

However, when the majority party’s interest is not governing, but stagecraft, the hallowed halls of the state Capitol turn into a burlesque playhouse. With taxpayer money to put on a show.

Trump should remain on the ballot

One recent example is House Bill 2786, sponsored by Republican Rep. Cory McGarr.

It’s a reaction to efforts in several states to bar former President Donald Trump from appearing on the ballot for having violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which disqualifies anyone from holding office who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or who has “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Colorado, for example, says Trump’s participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection disqualifies him. There were oral arguments about this before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Experts believe the court will favor Trump, since several justices indicated that Congress might be able to do such a thing but not individual states.

If that argument holds, Trump would survive on a technicality. I doubt anyone could seriously suggest he didn’t, at the very least, give “aid and comfort” to the insurrectionists.

But his ballot status should be fine.

Bill would boot Biden to save Trump

Just in case, however, McGarr’s bill says if Trump is disqualified then Biden, too, must be disqualified.

The … (let’s go with) … comical nature of that suggestion might best be exposed by way of a historic example in sports.

How Trump could (and should): Stay off the ballot

Back in 1988, at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Canada’s Ben Johnson defeated America’s Carl Lewis in the gold-medal finals of the 100-meter dash, the premiere event of the games.

Within days, however, drug testing found that Johnson had taken an anabolic steroid and he was disqualified. His gold medal was awarded to Lewis, who’d finished second.

If the Olympic Committee followed Rep. McCarr’s logic, they would have disqualified the cheating Johnson and Lewis, who was clean.

Sadly, using the legislative process to propose such farcical BS does not disqualify McCarr from holding political office.

Even worse, the same is true for the bill's 15 — count ‘em — fifteen Republican cosponsors.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona GOP bill would boot Biden from ballot if Trump is disqualified