AG Blanche Tells CNN's Dana Bash 'Stop It' Over Jan. 6 Comparison

Attorney General Todd Blanche pushed back hard on CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday morning after she suggested the Justice Department’s Alaska election lawsuit could set the stage for President Trump to overturn an election, a scenario she compared to the aftermath of January 6, 2021, according to video of the exchange on CNN’s “State of the Union” and a write-up by Mediaite.

“Oh, stop it!” Blanche said, according to Mediaite’s transcript of the interview. “You’ve gotta stop it with that! You are not being a real person! Come on man, that is crazy!”

'Come On Man, That is Crazy!' Todd Blanche Fumes at CNN's Bash for Asking About a 'Doomsday Scenario' Where Trump 'Tries to Overturn the Election' https://t.co/ndapQgMoKc

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) October 25, 2026

Bash replied, “It is not crazy!” according to the same report.

The Alaska lawsuit at the center of the clash

The interview focused on the Justice Department’s lawsuit over Alaska’s U.S. Senate race. The Hill reported that the suit, filed Thursday in federal court in Alaska, argues that a candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan entered the race “with the intention of misleading” supporters of incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, and that his sole purpose is to help Democrat Mary Peltola by pulling votes away from the senator.

Bash opened by citing a Truth Social post in which President Trump wrote that “Democrats are trying to steal this important Republican Seat,” according to Mediaite. Bash argued that the post showed the president was admitting the lawsuit was political, and asked Blanche, “Do you see your job as helping Republicans keep the seat?”

Blanche flatly denied that, according to Mediaite, arguing that a president flagging something improper at the ballot box is not inherently political and that, as the head of the executive branch, Trump is supposed to make sure the country is running properly.

Blanche rejects the premise

Bash then widened the question to the midterms as a whole. She asked whether the president was “laying the groundwork” for a scenario in which he “tries to overturn the election,” adding that “the result of that could be, God forbid, what we saw after January 6th,” Mediaite reported.

Blanche rejected the premise outright, according to Mediaite, saying the department is acting because it believes fraud and voter confusion are happening in Alaska, and that wanting to stop that does not mean the president will “do something crazy.” He called Bash’s question “not a real question,” the outlet reported.

“We’re not laying any groundwork for the president to do that!” Blanche added, according to the outlet. “So your premise, your question, is not true!”

Blanche’s earlier comments

Bash’s question referenced Blanche’s own words from earlier in the week. Fox News reported that at a news conference in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday, Blanche declined to rule out federal involvement if a hypothetical “doomsday scenario” arose, while saying, “I’m not trying to not have an election certified. Of course not.”

On Saturday, Blanche wrote on X that the Alaska lawsuit “does not seek to stop any ballot from being cast or to stop the certification of Alaska’s election,” according to The Hill. He said the litigation aims to preserve ballots so Alaska officials have the information needed to judge whether voters were confused or misled.

Critics dispute that description. Democracy Docket, a left-leaning legal news site, argued that the department’s complaint asks the court to block certification of any result that may have been affected by voter confusion, pending an investigation.

The Senate race in Alaska is among the closest in the country with nine days left before the November 3 midterm elections.

Sources

• Mediaite
• The Hill
• Fox News
• Democracy Docket

Reporting by Daily Beltway.