Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back hard against CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday’s “State of the Union,” accusing her of “crazy” questioning after she pressed him on whether President Donald Trump is setting the stage to contest the outcome of the midterm elections.
The exchange centered on the Department of Justice’s lawsuit over the Alaska Senate race, following a Truth Social post in which Trump wrote, “Democrats are trying to steal this important Republican seat.”
Bash seized on that post as proof the administration views the lawsuit through a partisan lens. “He’s admitting it’s political. Do you see your job as helping Republicans keep the seat?” she asked Blanche.
Blanche rejected the premise outright. “He’s not admitting it’s political. Wait, you’re saying that a president’s saying that there’s something improper happening at the ballots is necessarily political? He’s the executive. He’s supposed to make sure that there is everything in this country is running right,” he said.
Bash then raised the possibility of a broader constitutional crisis, referencing a phrase Blanche himself had used days earlier. “Let’s just talk turkey. Because one of the big questions is whether or not the president is laying the groundwork for a scenario where — whether it’s Alaska or somewhere else — there is, in your words a couple of days ago, a ‘doomsday scenario,’ and we could be in a situation where President Trump tries to overturn the election. And the result of that could be, God forbid, what we saw after January 6,” she said.
Blanche’s response was blunt. “Oh, stop it! You’ve gotta stop it with that! You are not being a real person! Come on man, That is crazy!” he said.
“Because the Department of Justice is concerned that there is an absolute fraud happening in Alaska, and he wants to do something about it, you’re saying, ‘Mr. Attorney General, because a president of the United States wants to stop a fraud and confusion in Alaska, is he going to do something crazy? That is not a real question,” Blanche told Bash.
Bash wasn’t swayed. “I wish it wasn’t. If you’re laying the groundwork for the president to try to overturn an election that he doesn’t like,” she said.
Blanche flatly denied the suggestion a final time. “We’re not laying any groundwork for the president to do that. So your premise — your question — is not true!” he said.
The on-air confrontation comes as the Justice Department’s lawsuit over the Alaska Senate race moves forward, with the administration framing its action as a response to election irregularities rather than a political maneuver.
