|
Dear John,
Let me put it simply: If you’ve tried to overthrow the U.S. government, you cannot be president.
It’s clear as day in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which states:
No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, … who, having previously taken an oath … 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.
This requirement has already been applied to remove from public office Cowboys for Trump co-founder and former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin in New Mexico. There is video of Griffin campaigning in which he says “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.”
Griffin was found guilty of a misdemeanor for entering the Capitol grounds during the January 6 insurrection, though he did not go inside the building. The initial ruling removing him from office as a result was upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
If the 14th Amendment applies to a County Commissioner who participated in January 6, of course it should apply to Donald Trump -- the person who, after all his other attempts to stay in power after losing the election had failed, directed an armed mob to march on the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of electors!
Trump is disqualified. Tell Election Officials to recognize the 14th Amendment and keep Trump off the ballot now!
So how exactly does this apply to Donald Trump? At his Inauguration in 2017, Trump took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Four years later, he violated that oath with his efforts to remain in office after losing reelection. The violent insurrection was the culmination of a months-long project to try to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
First Trump sought legal remedies in the courts, but after he failed in over 60 court cases, he tried to intimidate state officials into reversing the election by “finding” votes that did not exist. He recruited “alternative” slates of electors to cast unauthorized votes for him in the Electoral College.
Finally, when none of these other schemes had succeeded, he invited extremists to the Capitol on January 6 to try to prevent the formal counting of electoral votes. Having been informed that members of the crowd carried deadly weapons, he sent them to the Capitol building, which they invaded, threatening to find and assassinate Vice President Pence and other lawmakers.
Trump provided aid and comfort to the hundreds of assailants actively assaulting police officers when he did nothing but watch the extreme physical violence he had unleashed unfold on television. According to sworn testimony by his closest aides, President Trump refused to call in the National Guard or any other support for the Capitol police, who were literally fighting for their lives to protect the lives of those within the building.
While members of his inner circle were begging Trump to call off the mob, he instead further incited them by tweeting criticism of his own vice president, literally stoking the cries of “Hang Mike Pence!”
Folks, I’d like to take a moment here to recognize just how egregious Trump’s failure to protect the U.S. Capitol, and the people in it, was.
Trump’s incitement of violence followed by his failure to act to stop it were unconscionable, the exact opposite of what any reasonable person would expect of a president, and it led to the deaths of multiple people and significant injuries to hundreds.
It was an insurrection. It was violent. It was a violation of Trump’s oath of office.
The 14th Amendment is clear, Trump is disqualified and must be barred from serving in elected office in America ever again. Sign the petition to tell election officials to keep Trump off the ballot now.
No one is above the law, including Donald Trump.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
|
