Johnson warns Democrats face ‘legal hurdles’ if party tries to replace Biden

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) warns Democrats that they may face legal challenges if they try to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

During an interview Sunday morning with CNN's State of the Union, Johnson gave his assessment of Demcorats’ chances to do a last-minute switch at the top of the presidential ballot.

The Republican speaker noted that Democrats are facing “a real problem” because “every state has their own election system,” making it difficult for Democrats to end Biden’s bid for a second term.

“In some of these states it’s a real hurdle — they have a real problem in replacing the nominee at the top of the ticket,” Johnson told CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

Johnson’s words come as Biden bleeds support from his party. With two-thirds of Democrats saying Biden should step down, some liberals are pushing for an open convention during the Democratic National Convention next month.

From former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), top Democrats are beginning to rally around the idea that multiple candidates should compete for Biden’s approximately 4,000 delegates during the DNC in Chicago. Meanwhile, another camp of Democrats is coalescing to replace Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris .

Johnson says Democrats should expect “legal hurdles” from states, because “Joe Biden was chosen after a long democratic process by 14 million people.” The Republican leader echoed an argument Biden made in a letter to his party earlier this month as he fought to convince them he should remain the Democratic nominee.

“I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process,” Biden wrote to congressional Democrats on July 8. “The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party. Do we now just say this process didn't matter? That the voters don't have a say?”

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While Johnson criticized “the so-called party of democracy” for considering going “into a back room somewhere” to replace Biden, he raised concerns that Biden’s diminished cognitive state renders him unable to run the country.

“If he’s incapable of running for president, how is he capable of governing right now? I mean, there is five months left of this administration,” Johnson questioned. The Republican said he has observed that Biden’s “faculties have diminished” and called the president’s cognitive decline “a danger to the country.”