Keith Ridler/AP
- Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin put a vaccine passport order in place while the governor was away last week.
- Gov. Little said he would be "rescinding and reversing" McGeachin's order when he gets back from Texas.
- McGeachin has announced she will run for governor in 2022, where she will likely face off with Little, who is expected to seek reelection.
Idaho Lieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin sidestepped questions and walked off an interview with CNN when she was questioned about her recent executive actions that some have criticized as political grandstanding.
McGeachin, a far-right Republican, butted heads with Idaho Governor Brad Little when she issued a ban on so-called vaccine passports in schools and attempted to deploy the state's National Guard while Little was out of state this week. Little, also a Republican, said he would reverse McGeachin's actions, stating he had "not authorized the Lt. Governor to act on my behalf."
"Our constitution states that when the governor leaves the state, all duties that apply to the office of the governor then fall to the lieutenant governor," McGeachin said in an interview with CNN's Dan Simon.
"But you know what you're doing. You're running for governor, but when he leaves town, you're issuing these orders. You're undermining what he's doing when you're doing this," Simon said.
"I'm not going to talk anymore to an activist. If you're asking me fair questions as a reporter, then that's fine, but if you're going to be an activist..." McGeachin said.
Simon said he wasn't "being an activist" and asked how McGeachin responds to her critics.
"I am not anti-vax. I am not anti-testing of COVID. We know a lot of people that are suffering from this right now, but I am very much against it being a mandate in our state, and that's what this is all about," McGeachin said.
Simon said that Gov. Little "never mandated anything," at which point McGeachin said "interview's over," and walked away.
McGeachin has announced she will run for governor in 2022, where she will likely face off with Little, who is expected to seek reelection.
Jim Jones, the former Chief Justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, said in an interview with CNN that McGeachin "acted like an idiot."