Former Attorney General William “Bill” Barr blasted left-wing groups for their attempts to block No Labels from achieving ballot access in all 50 states for the 2024 election, stating that the effort “extinguishes First Amendment rights.”
In an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal, Barr said that the campaign to disenfranchise No Labels’ third-party initiative to offer an alternative candidate other than President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election is “profoundly wrong” and “profoundly hypocritical.”
“Poll after poll shows American voters want a choice beyond Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I don’t know whether a No Labels candidate would help or hurt either. But that calculus should make no difference,” Barr said. “Blocking ballot access to a qualified organization doesn’t enhance American democracy and civic life. It extinguishes First Amendment rights and makes our elections less meaningful.”
As left-wing groups work to undermine No Labels’ efforts, the third-party organization has filed a complaint with the Justice Department, claiming there is a “highly coordinated, conspiratorial, partisan, and often unlawful conspiracy” to interfere with their plans.
“Even if the campaign against No Labels isn’t illegal, it is profoundly hypocritical and diminishes Americans’ already low trust in our democratic system,” Barr added.
The former attorney general, who served under Trump, criticized groups like ThirdWay, the Lincoln Project, and MoveOn Political Action, which he said are attacking No Labels in their work to “save the republic from a second Trump term.” He went on to say that progressives would be outraged if there were a campaign to prevent Americans from voting.
“The current effort to block No Labels’ ballot access is as outrageous as taking away someone’s right to vote,” Barr said. “But instead of fighting this campaign, political operatives on the left are participating in it.”
Barr argued that the left’s attempts to oppose No Labels could help Trump, “validating his claim that corrupt elites will stop at nothing to defeat him and the voters he represents.” Though he described himself as a “lifelong conservative” who opposes Trump’s nomination, he believes the only way to “morally and constitutionally” move on from Trump is through an uninterrupted election.
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Anything less, he said, “subverts American democracy and violates American voters’ rights.”
So far, No Labels has achieved ballot access in 14 states, most recently in Maine and Kansas. The group has long sought to open doors for third-party candidates in several presidential contests. However, Democratic allies and lawmakers are worried that for the 2024 election, a third-party candidate could aid a GOP and Trump victory this November.