Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn his disqualification in Colorado, but even the beginning of his petition shows contempt for democracy.
Trump’s lawyers had some interesting uses of quotation marks are they put the question before the Court:
The Supreme Court of Colorado held that President Donald J. Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President because he “engaged in insurrection” against the Constitution of the United States—and that he did so after taking an oath “as an officer of the United States” to “support” the Constitution. The state supreme court ruled that the Colorado Secretary of State should not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot or count any write-in votes cast for him. The state supreme court stayed its decision pending United States Supreme Court review.
The question presented is: Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in order- ing President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot?
It has been a given throughout presidential history that presidents take an oath of office to support the Constitution. Is Trump’s legal defense that the president is not an officer of the United States and that it is not the job of any president to support the Constitution?
If that is the case, it is difficult to imagine a more hostile position to the Constitution and democracy than the one that Trump and his legal team have chosen.
Trump’s team goes on to argue that the President Of The United States is no a federal officer, therefor Article 3 of the 14th Amendment does not apply to him.
The defense is flimsy, but it is one that Trump has made over and over. Trump’s defense for all of his alleged crimes is that presidents are above the law and the Constitution does not apply to them.
Trump’s argument is fundamentally un-American, and it is a slap in the face to the principles that the nation was founded on.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association