'That's a political argument': CNN host shuts down ex-Trump adviser on ballot questions

Blame James Madison.

President Donald Trump's former aide David Urban and deputy assistant attorney general Elliott Williams clashed on CNN over the basis as to why states have disqualified Trump and stricken his name from the ballot.

Urban hasn't seen anything proving Trump's guilty of insurrection.

"I hear lots of feelings, right, lots of people's feelings," he said. "'We feel that Trump is this,' or 'We feel that Trump is that,' — we're short on facts... Lots of prosecutors have looked at this and guess what they haven't done? They haven't charged Donald Trump with insurrection."

He believes the lack of facts forced Jack Smith from charging the president with insurrection.

"So, if somebody has a case to make against Donald Trump for insurrection — bring it," he said.

Urban then railed against "some of these states" committing "the most undemocratic thing you can do in this country."

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"So, for somebody to really be throwing these stones at Donald Trump saying 'he's this demagogue', 'he's a dictator,' and secretaries of states to be doing this — toss him off the ballot on their own volition is just abhorrent."

Williams schooled Urban on the fact that these states are simply fulfilling their Constitutional roles.

"To be clear, though, blame James Madison for this," he said directly to Urban. "Blame George Washington for this for writing the Constitution in a manner that gave the states the power to decide who could be on and who could be off the ballot."

He emphasized that there's no way to know if someone has to be "convicted of insurrection to be found an insurrectionist per the rules of the 14th Amendment to keep you off the ballot... this 'is he charged with a crime or is he not charged with a crime' is not the end of the question with respect to whether someone should or should not be on the ballot."

Urban thundered back: "It's bad for democracy unless it's clear cut here that Donald Trump should not be on the ballot."

That's when John German drove home Williams' constitutional reasoning, saying, "I understand the argument you're making but that's a political argument," the host filling in for Anderson Cooper said. "And I'm not saying a political argument is a bad argument, I'm just saying it is a political argument."

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