'Republicans will literally kill people to stay in power': Former Clinton adviser James Carville tears into the GOP for making Wisconsin voters cast in-person ballots during the coronavirus lockdown

James Carville, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton, ripped into Republicans after a conservative majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court allowed the state's primary elections to go ahead despite coronavirus concerns.

Carville, appearing on MSNBC following the Tuesday primaries, says it was 'one of the most awful things I've ever seen in my life' after the court's conservatives determined Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, lacked the authority to postpone the election in a majority 4 to 2 vote.

The governor had tried to delay the primary to protect polling workers from exposure to deadly flu-like virus, also known COVID-19.  

'They will kill people to stay in power, literally,' Carville said of Republicans, after the primaries went through with the court's blessing.

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James Carville, the former advisor to President Bill Clinton, ripped into Republicans after a conservative majority on Wisconsin's Supreme Court allowed the state's primary elections Tuesday over Coronavirus concerns

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Carville, appearing on MSNBC following the primaries on Tuesday, says it was 'one of the most awful things I've ever seen in my life' after the court's conservatives determined Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, lacked the authority to postpone the election in a majority 4 to 2 vote

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The governor had tried to delay the primary to protect polling workers from exposure to deadly virus. 'They will kill people to stay in power, literally,' Carville said of Republicans, after the primaries went through

Wisconsin's Supreme Court is normally controlled 5-2 by conservative justices – but one of the conservatives had been on Tuesday's ballot. 

'It was all about one Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin,' Carville said.   

The 75-year-old former political operative had been speaking with MSNBC anchor Brian Williams and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

Neither Williams nor Steele confronted Carville on his controversial statements.

The tumult in one of the most critical general election battlegrounds underscored the challenge of voting during a pandemic when public health officials are discouraging groups from gathering for virtually any reason to prevent the spread of the virus. 

There have been 469,450 confirmed cases in the U.S. of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for 16,715 deaths.

Wisconsin has had 2,885 confirmed cases and 116 deaths related to COVID-19

The Wisconsin high court on Monday had ordered the election back on, hours after Evers issued an executive order postponing it for two months.

The governor had previously opposed moving the election and said he didn't have the authority to shift the timing unilaterally.

But he changed course Monday, ordering a delay of in-person voting to June 9, as poll sites closed because nervous volunteers were unwilling to staff them and as criticism about holding the election grew.

Evers said his order was the last hope for stopping the election, and he had no immediate comment after the court's ruling about any other possible legal challenges.

'There's not a Plan B. There's not a Plan C,' Evers said earlier Monday.

'Frankly, there's no good answer to this problem - I wish it were easy. I have been asking everyone to do their part to help keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and I had hoped that the Legislature would do its part - just as the rest of us are - to help keep people healthy and safe,' he continued.

Evers had questioned over the last month whether he had the power to reschedule the election, leaving the fate of the election up in the air less than 24 hours before polls were slated to open.

Other states that were slated to vote this month have postponed their elections until May or June, but Republicans in Wisconsin had refused to delay.

A federal judge already extended absentee voting deadlines for Wisconsin until April 13 because of the pandemic when it appeared the state was not going to delay the in-person voting date. 

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Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the Wisconsin primary election Tuesday at Marshall High School in Milwaukee

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City of Milwaukee Election Commission workers process absentee ballots in Wisconsin's presidential primary election on Tuesday

Wisconsin residents queue to vote amidst coronavirus pandemic

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Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, and others from his party have already floated the idea of fully remote primary and general elections should the levels continue to escalate through the summer.

Biden has also suggested doing a 'virtual' nominating convention in August instead of hosting the in-person event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where tens of thousands of people from all over the country attend.

His rival, Republican President Donald Trump, had said Tuesday that long primary lines in Wisconsin and concern about keeping six feet apart - guidelines from his own administration - were Evers' problems.  

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Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee challenging Republican President Donald Trump, has suggested doing a 'virtual' nominating convention for his party in August instead of hosting the in-person event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

'You have a Democrat in Wisconsin as governor. Ask him. That's his problem. He should be doing it. Again, some governors fail. I won't let them fail because when they fail, I'll help. That's run by Democrats right now. It's run by Democrats,' Trump said. 

He won Wisconsin in the 2016 election.