Could Trump be disqualified under the 14th Amendment?
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Is former President Donald Trump disqualified from the presidency because of the 14th Amendment? That’s what former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson argued Wednesday at the Republican debate.
When moderator Bret Baier asked candidates whether they would support Trump as the party’s nominee if he was convicted, Hutchinson did not raise his hand.
“Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump was morally disqualified from being president again as a result of what happened on Jan. 6. More people are understanding the importance of that, including conservative legal scholars who say he maybe disqualified under the 14th Amendment from being president again as a result of the insurrection,” Hutchinson said. “This is something that disqualifies him under our rules and under our Constitution.”
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What does Section 3 of the 14th Amendment say?
A pair of law professors who are members of the conservative Federalist Society wrote a new paper arguing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits Trump from holding office. Section 3 states no one can hold office, including the office of the president, if they took an oath to support the U.S. Constitution, engage “in insurrection or rebellion” against it, or give “aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” unless they receive a vote of two-thirds of Congress for a pardon.
“Section 3 is self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress. It can and should be enforced by every official, state or federal, who judges qualifications,” authors William Baude of the University of Chicago and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the University of St. Thomas wrote in the paper, which was published online this month in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
“It covers a broad range of former offices, including the presidency. And in particular, it disqualifies former President Donald Trump, and potentially many others, because of their participation in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 presidential election,” they wrote.
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Why do law professors think the 14th Amendment applies to Trump?
This clause prevented former Confederates officials from retaking office and from hampering efforts to offer full and equal protection to newly freed former slaves, the authors wrote, and it still applies today to Trump and others who attempted to overturn the election.
“Donald Trump both ‘engaged in’ ‘insurrection or rebellion’ and gave ‘aid or comfort’ to others engaging in such conduct, within the original meaning of those terms as employed in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” they wrote. “If the public record is accurate, the case is not even close. He is no longer eligible to the office of presidency, or any other state or federal office covered by the Constitution. All who are committed to the Constitution should take note and say so.”
How did other Republicans respond to Asa Hutchinson?
Trump remains the leading Republican candidate in national polls, and Hutchinson’s comments about him did not go over well with some audience members at the debate. Hutchinson was booed after he mentioned “Jan. 6” and used the term “insurrection.”
“I’m not going to support somebody who’s been convicted of a serious felony or who is disqualified under our Constitution,” Hutchinson said.
National polling averages from FiveThirtyEight show Hutchinson with less than 1% support, but he’s caught Trump’s attention.
“I call him ‘Ada’ Hutchinson. It’s Asa but I call him ‘Ada,’” Trump said during his interview with Tucker Carlson Wednesday. “He’s weak and pathetic. Never understood the guy. Never knew him.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released earlier this month found 52% of Republican voters said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted, 35% said they would and the remainder were unsure.
