Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) on Friday warned what the 2022 midterm elections mean for the longer term of democracy in America.
On MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” host Nicolle Wallace noted how Benson was “just the form of person” that former President Donald Trump wanted to exchange to potentially overturn the 2024 election if the vote doesn’t go his, or one other Republican’s, way.
Benson, who was elected as Michigan’s top election official in 2018, faced intimidation from Trump supporters following the 2020 election amid ultimately unsuccessful GOP efforts to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.
“You might be exactly ― not only the form of person, but in Michigan specifically ― what Donald Trump wants to vary for next time. What are your warnings about 2024?” Wallace asked Benson.
“That 2022 will resolve whether we now have a democracy in 2024,” Benson replied.
“Our ability to guard and defend democracy in 2020 depended entirely on people of integrity on either side of the aisle protecting the desire of the people, saying no when the president called and said, ‘Find me votes,’ and certifying elections despite threats and violence and challenges to those certification processes,” she said.
The 2022 midterms are “when voters will resolve who the players are going to be in 2024,” she continued. So, it’s “a chance for us to decide on champions of democracy and reject those conspiracy theorists who very clearly wouldn’t certify an election they don’t agree with.”
Benson expressed hope that voters would “make the appropriate selection.”
“It’s our opportunity between now and election day to clarify to voters in states like Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, that democracy is on the road,” she concluded. “Their vote this 12 months will determine its future.”
Watch the interview here:
“Our ability to guard and defend democracy in 2020 depended entirely on people of integrity on either side of the aisle, protecting the desire of the people…so 2022 is when voters will resolve who the players are going to be in 2024” – @JocelynBenson w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/E7wc69HB6Q
— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) May 13, 2022
