Republicans are leaning full force into their grief-stricken responses to the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that Donald Trump is disqualified from appearing on the state’s 2024 primary ballot.
Their whines are somewhat noteworthy, but I also think giving their complaints too much oxygen carries risks. Overemphasizing GOP angst can have the effect of legitimizing it to some Americans. It can also crowd out the righteous indignation of people who’ve been seeking to hold Trump accountable for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
It’s as if they’re asking Americans to reject truths seen with their own eyes.
As Republicans seek to downplay and dismiss Trump’s actions Jan. 6, 2021, and suggest those actions shouldn’t warrant electoral disqualification, it’s as if they’re asking Americans to reject truths seen with their own eyes. We watched Trump inflame a mob he reportedly knew to be armed, direct that mob to go to the Capitol to disrupt the electoral count, and continue to support members of that mob today. Sounds pretty “insurrectionist” to me.
For this reason, everyone should watch (or re-watch) Rep. Bennie Thompson’s opening remarks from Day 1 of the House Jan. 6 committee’s public hearings in 2022, in which he carefully explained how Trump’s actions amounted to insurrection — even if he’s not formally charged with it. It was a prebuttal of sorts to the cries we’ve heard this week.
“I am from a part of the country where people justified the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and lynching,” Thompson, the committee’s chair, said at the time. “I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6, 2021.”
Thompson’s speech laid out why insurrectionists shouldn’t serve in official positions and highlighted the Civil War roots of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. That is, the amendment cited in the Colorado ruling, which was also used to bar Confederates from serving in public positions after waging war against the Union.
Thompson said:
When the United States Capitol was stormed and burned in 1814, foreign enemies were responsible. Afterward, in 1862, when American citizens had taken up arms against this country, Congress adopted a new oath to help make sure no person who had supported the rebellion could hold a position of public trust. Therefore, congresspersons and U.S. federal government employees were required for the first time to swear an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies — foreign and domestic. That oath was put to the test on January 6, 2021.
Thompson’s brief history lesson pre-emptively dismantled Republican claims we’ve heard in the aftermath of the Colorado decision, including claims that electoral disqualifications are indicative of “third world countries,” claims that investigations into Trump’s actions have been overtly partisan, and claims that a court conviction is essential for one to be deemed an insurrectionist.
Watch Thompson’s opening statement below:
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.