Is Donald Trump’s goose finally cooked? I ask this because a judge in Colorado is at least open to the possibility that Trump, a man arrested under more charges than I can fathom, may not be eligible to be on the ballot for the 2024 presidential election in Colorado..
Now, look, I know. Teflon Don has had nothing stick to him so far; he’s gotten away with basically everything. However, and I know you’ve heard this song before, this time might be different. Per CNN:
A Colorado judge has rejected another attempt by former President Donald Trump to throw out a lawsuit seeking to block him from the 2024 presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.”
The ruling Wednesday from Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace clears the way for an unprecedented trial to begin next week, to determine if Trump is disqualified from returning to the White House because of his role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
As a reminder, here’s the relevant section of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, 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. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
So good news on that front, first—specifically in regards to how Congress can get rid of the pesky “no insurrectionists in the White House” loophole. It just took the Republicans, who control the House by a very thin margin, far too long to elect a Speaker of the House, so there’s no way they could get two-thirds of a vote to let Trump stay eligible. And with the Senate being controlled by the Democrats, that doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of even being entertained. This is all to say, if the trial goes against Trump, it could be very bad for him. Per CNN:
In a 24-page ruling, Wallace rejected Trump’s argument that questions about his eligibility should be handled by Congress, not courts. She also rejected Trump’s argument that the Colorado election officials don’t have the power to enforce the so-called “insurrectionist ban,” which is enshrined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
“The Court holds that states can, and have, applied Section 3 pursuant to state statutes without federal enforcement legislation,” Wallace wrote.
Obviously, the big obstructionist elephant in the room is The Supreme Court, but who knows what could happen there? Let’s cross the first bridge, which is Trump losing this trial, and then worry about what the unelected judges on the Supreme Court bench have to say on the matter. In short: Let us have this minor victory which could turn out to be a very big deal, now. We can worry about what comes next, later.
At the very least, we should be happy that Trump is having to fight multiple legal battles on multiple fronts. Surely, that can’t be good for his campaign, attention, and general swagger, and anything that negatively affects Trump is undoubtedly good for the country as a while.
(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
