Politico was the first over the weekend to report that former President Donald Trump, who was twice impeached but not removed, would continue to run his campaign for the Presidency in the 2024 election even if he was convicted for a felony.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/10/trump-vows-to-stay-in-the-race-even-if-convicted-00101403
Donald Trump vowed Saturday to continue running for president even if he were to be convicted as part of the 37-count federal felony indictment that was issued against him this week.
“I’ll never leave,” Trump said in an interview aboard his plane. “Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory that was not doable.”
- Politico, 10th Jun 2023
Politico also points out that neither being in prison or being convicted of a crime is a legal disability for running for President. There is not legal prohibition from running for president from prison or as a convicted felon. However, what this article does not mention is that Donald Trump is in fact already constitutionally ineligible for any future run for office.
In the wake of the United States' Civil War, Supreme Court Cases such as White v Texas (1868) ruled that the war was illegal as attempting to dissolve the Union was illegal. In that same immediate period, various state legislatures wanted to ensure that a repeat of the Civil War would not happen again and so the first thing on the Agenda was to bar slavery with the 13th Amendment, and then define things like citizenship, due process and other issues which related to the Civil War.
The relevant section, Section 3, is as follows:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
Section 3.
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.
- Section 3, Amendment XIV to the United States Constitution (1868)
In the now infamous insurrection which was both violent and quick, Donald Trump had the following to say:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fiT6c0MQ58
Now it is up to congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy, and after this we're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you. We're going to walk down we're going to walk down, anyone you want, but I think right here. We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on our brave Senators and Congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you'll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong.
- President Donald Trump, 6th Jan 2021. (via NBC)
The words of the text of Section 3, Amendment XIV state that anyone who has taken an oath to uphold the United States' Constitution and then engages in "insurrection or rebellion" against the United States, or gives "aid or comfort to its enemies thereof", is disqualified from any office, civil or military, under the United States.
As it currently stands, more than 1000 people hve faced charges relating to the January 6th insurrection which attempted to overthrow the 2020 election, and more than 150 defendants have pleaded guilty to felonies, relating to same. Is has very much been established that there was an insurrection and that former President Donald Trump incited it. Furthermore, because at least 100 cited the words of Donald Trump, as the incitement, then not only implied implied conviction or proof exists, but this is settled; more than a hundred times so far.
Legally speaking, Trump is already disqualified under Section 3, Amendment XIV from appearing on any future ballot and because the words of the text do not mention anything about conviction of the person, then no conviction is necessary to enforce it. At this point election officials must follow the Section 3, Amendment XIV and bar Donald Trump from the ballot. The only instruction is that it would take two-third of Congress to vote to reinstate the person.
The question which will remain unanswered due to cowardice and gutlessness, is why election officials will refuse to enforce the law. Trump could still run for the title of Republican Party nominee but as that is a private organisation, the United States' Constitution is actually irrelevant in such a case.
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