About a month after the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, reminded the political world that if Donald Trump ran for a second term, the Republican might run into eligibility problems. After all, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars any public official who swore an oath to protect the Constitution from holding office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it or gave “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
The Maryland Democrat explained at the time, “Donald Trump is right in, you know, the bullseye middle of that group,” referencing how the lawmakers at the end of the Civil War intended for it to be used. “And so, he really does fulfill exactly the constitutional prohibition there.”
The former president was dismissive of the argument, characterizing it as a “trick.” As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, a majority of the Colorado Supreme Court came to a very different conclusion.
The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday said Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the office of the presidency under the U.S. Constitution. … Because he’s disqualified, the state Supreme Court said in its 4-3 decision spanning 133 pages, it would be a “wrongful act” to list Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot. Therefore, the court said, he can’t be on the ballot or have write-in votes for him counted.
In case this isn’t obvious, this is the first such ruling against a leading major-party presidential candidate. Of course, Trump’s role in attacking his own country’s democracy in the wake of his election defeat was historically unique, too.
The Colorado Supreme Court was not the first state court to consider the underlying legal question. Related lawsuits have been filed in dozens of states, to no avail: NBC News reported overnight that courts “have ruled against similar efforts to get Trump banned from the ballot in Arizona, Michigan and Minnesota.”
In each of these instances, jurists approached the issue somewhat awkwardly: It seemed as if they didn’t want to be the first to deem Trump ineligible, even if the circumstances warranted it.
A majority on the Colorado Supreme Court was willing to take the step anyway.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” the justices wrote. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach. … We are also cognizant that we travel in uncharted territory.”
For critics of the GOP frontrunner, the developments are no doubt encouraging, but they should probably pause before getting their hopes up. As Jordan’s piece added, “The ruling is on hold for now pending potential U.S. Supreme Court review. Trump has vowed to ‘swiftly’ appeal to the high court, which could reverse the ruling.”
But while we wait for the process to advance, I was struck by Team Trump’s reaction to the state court ruling.
Alina Habba, a prominent member of the former president’s legal team, said the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision “attacks the very heart of this nation’s democracy.” Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the super PAC backing Trump’s candidacy, echoed the sentiment, insisting that the ruling is “an attack on the very fabric of America.”
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, issued a related statement, describing 14th-Amendment challenges as “un-American.”
There’s an odd disconnect. For Team Trump, the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was fine, but making legal arguments based on the U.S. Constitution represent attacks against democracy.
Indeed, it’s not just the candidate and his political operation: Republicans in Congress and other GOP presidential hopefuls responded to the state court ruling with outrage — not with Trump’s role in the violent assault on our seat of government, but with the application of the 14th Amendment to the former president.
In other words, for the Republican front-runner and his party, insurrections aren’t dangerous; accountability for insurrections is dangerous.
Of course, members of Team Trump can soothe itself by counting contributions: They launched a fundraising campaign soon after the Colorado Supreme Court issued its ruling.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
