Former President Trump took aim Monday at some Democrats’ arguments that he could be removed from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment.
“Almost all legal scholars have voiced opinions that the 14th Amendment has no legal basis or standing relative to the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Like Election Interference, it is just another “trick” being used by the Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, to again steal an Election that their candidate, the WORST, MOST INCOMPETENT, & MOST CORRUPT President in U.S. history, is incapable of winning in a Free and Fair Election. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he continued.
Some legal experts have argued that Trump may not be qualified to run for president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which states that no one who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
A growing number of Democrats and legal experts say the actions he allegedly took on Jan. 6, 2021, fall under either engaging in an insurrection against the Constitution or assisting others. Activist groups are also pushing to disqualify Trump from the ballot in key states, citing the 14th Amendment.
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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) both said Sunday that the 14th Amendment may disqualify Trump from the election. Kaine, on ABC’s “This Week,” said it may have been “more productive” to issue a declaration about the 14th Amendment instead of pursuing a second impeachment against the former president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment,” Kaine said. “And that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as laid out in the Constitution. So I think there’s a powerful argument to be made. My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts.”
Schiff said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki” that the argument some legal experts are making relating to Trump’s qualifications is “valid,” noting that it does not matter whether a candidate has been convicted of insurrection, just that they have “engaged in these acts.”
“It’s a disqualification from holding office again, and it fits Donald Trump to a T,” Schiff said.
GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson has also said the former president’s alleged actions Jan. 6 likely violated the amendment, making him disqualified from becoming president.