Opinion

Trump’s SCOTUS Win Shows Why We Need Federally Run Elections

THE NEW ABNORMAL

“If states can’t decide for themselves who can be on their ballots... let’s take this all the way,” The New Abnormal co-host Andy Levy argues on this week’s episode.

opinion
A photo illustration of election ballot boxes with the US government seal.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Former President Donald Trump scored a big win Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that individual states could not remove him from their ballots, no matter the reason.

The ruling really got under the skin of The New Abnormal hosts Danielle Moodie and Andy Levy, who argue on this week’s episode that the high court’s strange approach to states’ rights shows exactly why elections for national office should be held at the national level.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I say if states can’t decide for themselves who can be on their ballots, if only the federal government can make that decision, let’s take this all the way,” Levy said.

“I don’t like the fact that we have 50-plus presidential elections every four years. I think it’s stupid,” Levy added. “I think it leads to ridiculous results where people can win more electoral votes, which are made up, but win fewer actual votes and be named president.”

Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.

Then, Jose Pagliery, a political investigations reporter at The Daily Beast, joins the program to discuss Trump’s jam-packed court calendar—which is set to ramp up into high gear in just a few weeks as the country’s first-ever criminal trial of a former president begins.

“What we’re getting now is all of these legal problems that are surrounding Trump are starting to come to definitive conclusions,” he said.

Plus! A conversation with journalist and author Radley Balko about the sinister attempt to “retcon” the death of George Floyd and exonerate the cop who killed him, Derek Chauvin.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.