President Donald Trump on Wednesday told the Daily Caller that embattled Broward County, Florida election supervisor Brenda Snipes should be fired, following an onslaught of unsubstantiated allegations from Republicans that Snipes committed voter fraud in the recount of the Senate race for Sen. Bill Nelson (D) and Gov. Rick Scott (R).
“When they call this woman incompetent, they’re wrong,” Trump told the Daily Caller. “She’s very competent but in a bad way. … First thing you do is fire her and her cronies. You get ’em out.”
Trump claimed that Snipes “should have been removed in the middle of this mix up” and suggested she was involved in the delay in counting votes in Florida during the 2016 election.
Snipes, for her part, has denied allegations of fraud, but recently told NBC that she might consider moving on from her position in the Democratic-leaning county once the recount is over.
Snipes was appointed by former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in 2003 to help clean up the county’s election system following the 2000 presidential recount in Florida. Now Bush has joined the leagues of Republicans — and some Democrats — calling for her resignation.
While Snipes has been reelected four times, it’s not the first time her election administration has come under scrutiny. A judge ruled this year that her office broke the law for not preserving 2016 ballots for as long as required. She’s also been scrutinized for leaving an important medical marijuana referendum off some ballots in 2016 and posting presidential primary results before the polls closed.
