The criminal prosecutions that Democrats have brought against Donald Trump are all flimsy to various degrees. But the current effort to bar Trump from the 2024 ballot as an “insurrectionist” is possibly their weakest attempt yet.
Nevertheless, it continues to gain traction, as reflected in this news from a few hours ago:
BREAKING: A group has filed a lawsuit to bar Donald Trump from the primary ballot in Colorado, arguing he is ineligible to run for the White House again under a clause in the U.S. Constitution aimed at candidates who have supported an “insurrection.” https://t.co/bUMQIeYx3r
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 6, 2023
This theory is based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which reads in part:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President…who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States…to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
Tom Cotton comments pithily on this legal theory:
Dems are nervous because Americans know Joe Biden wrecked the economy and is mentally unfit to serve.
But that's no reason to take the radical, illegal, and unAmerican step of partisan AGs and secretaries of state removing opponents from the ballot. https://t.co/cjWacC9zPW
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 5, 2023
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was aimed at Confederates. The ideas it applies to President Trump, who hasn't been charged (let alone convicted) with insurrection is a farce.
This would deny Americans the chance to vote and select our leaders.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 5, 2023
The same Democrats pushing this have spent the last six years lecturing us about saving "Our Democracy™."
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 5, 2023
Whether it's packing the Supreme Court, ending the filibuster, making D.C. a state, or weaponizing the justice system, they'll do anything for power.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) September 5, 2023
I don’t doubt that the Democrats would have liked to charge Trump with “insurrection” under Title 18, §2383 of the U.S. Code, but they didn’t attempt to do that, presumably because the theory is so transparently stupid. So evidently their fallback theory is that in a particular state, Colorado in the above instance, local officials should take the initiative to bar Trump from the ballot, thus forcing him to go to court to reverse their decision. Or else, prior to any administrative action, there could be a proceeding in which a court would determine whether or not Trump “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” within the meaning of the Amendment. How far this gets presumably will depend on the integrity of local officials and courts, but likely the Democrats’ real objective is to embroil Trump in as many legal proceedings as possible in the months leading up to the election.
All of which confirms, as Senator Cotton says, that the Democrats will do anything, engage in any dishonesty, violate any norms, shred the fabric of civil society, if it will increase their power.
