President Trump said Wednesday that Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes should be fired over her mishandling of the midterm-election ballot count.
“Oh, she should have been removed — I think she should have been removed in the middle of this mix up,” Trump said of Snipes during an interview with The Daily Caller.
Snipes, who has twice previously been convicted of violating federal election law, has come under fire in recent days for her office’s lack of transparency throughout the recount process in Florida’s Senate and gubernatorial contests. A judge ruled Friday that Snipes violated Florida public-records law by both refusing to disclose the number of absentee ballots her office received and failing to update the final vote count every 45 minutes. Snipes also admitted last week to contaminating 205 valid provisional ballots by mixing in 22 rejected ballots.
“You look at her past, she’s a disaster,” Trump said of Snipes. “Even with me. I won Florida and, you remember? That area, Broward, didn’t come in,” Trump said of Broward County.
Trump has repeatedly slammed Snipes and other Florida elections officials for their incompetence and has even insinuated that they intentionally committed fraud.
“When they call this woman incompetent, they’re wrong,” Trump said of Snipes. “She’s very competent but in a bad way.”
Florida governor Rick Scott, the Republican Senate candidate, is reportedly considering removing Snipes from her post once the recount is complete and Snipes told reporters Tuesday that she may retire rather than seeking another term in 2020.
“It is time to move on, to let someone else,” she said. “I think I have served the purpose that I came her for.”
The recount process began Saturday morning and must be completed by 3 p.m. on Thursday. Should Broward fail to report its final vote count by then, the initial Election Night count will stand.