POLITICS
Farewell to Trump’s candidacy? The 14th ammendment could keep him from running for president in 2024
What does the constituional amendment say and why do some people argue that this would bar Trump from running for president again?
A number of academic groups, including some conservatives, are arguing that Donald Trump should not be able to run for president in the next general election, and never again, thanks to the provisions of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
This segment of the US constitution states that those officials who have held public office in the country and have participated in acts of “insurrection or rebellion”, after having taken an oath, cannot return to office, unless two-thirds of both Houses approve removing such disqualification.
“The clause was designed to operate directly and immediately upon those who betray their oaths to the Constitution, either by taking up arms to overthrow our government or wage war against our government by trying to overturn a presidential election through a bloodless coup”, noted academics for The Hill.
How does this relates to Donald Trump’s court cases?
The consitutional research was done after Donald Trump’s third arrest, in which he faces charges for attempting to annul the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to an investigation by Washington prosecutor Jack Smith, the former president is responsible for orchestrating a plan to annul the results and encourage his supporters of the Capitol insurrection on 6 January, 2021.
Among the charges for this offense are conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing and attempting to obstruct an official procedure, and conspiracy against rights.
In addition to the trial in Washington, the former president has another open case in Georgia, in the same way, for trying to annul the results of the elections. The Republican was arrested on 24 August 24.
Despite Trump’s alleged role in inciting the riots in the capitol, it is very unlikely that this amendment would be invoked. According to Steven Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern University, the key is that the words “insurrection” and “rebellion” are mentioned in the cases, but neither the Georgia nor the Washington investigation mentions them as such.