Dear MoveOn member,
MoveOn's campaign to disqualify Donald Trump from the ballot is gaining
steam. There's been a growing drumbeat of headlines in recent weeks like
this one in Tuesday's Washington Post: "Could the 14th Amendment keep
Trump off the ballot in 2024?"^1
And in The New York Times: "Conservative Case Emerges to Disqualify Trump
for Role on Jan. 6."^2 In the Atlantic: "The Constitution Prohibits Trump
From Ever Being President Again."^3 In Politico: "The sleeper legal fight
that could define 2024: Is Trump even eligible to run?"^4
And, in state papers, such as Maine's Portland Press Herald: "Maine
officials evaluating whether Trump can appear on ballot."^5 In New
Hampshire's Concord Monitor: "N.H. Attorney General will consider Trump's
eligibility to run again."^6 And in Ohio's Toledo Blade: "Constitution's
insurrection clause may block Trump from 2024 ballots."^7
Even legal scholars at the Federalist Society, the group that orchestrated
the far-right takeover of our courts, concluded after a two-year study:
"Donald Trump cannot be president—cannot run for president, cannot become
president, cannot hold office—unless two-thirds of Congress decides to
grant him amnesty for his conduct on Jan. 6."^8
The Constitution's 14th Amendment bars people from holding office if they
took an oath to support the Constitution and have later "engaged in
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the
enemies thereof."^9
That's why MoveOn launched a campaign last spring to convince state
election officials to disqualify Trump from the ballot, and our hard work
is starting to pay off in the media and in state after state. We were
among the earliest groups to push this demand—and now it's gaining steam.
But, as a grassroots organization, our resources come from you, our
members, and we need to raise the resources to sustain and ramp up the
campaign as the election approaches.
Can you chip in $5 a month to help us do whatever it takes
to disqualify Trump from the 2024 ballot?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Even just a few months ago, very few leaders were willing to consider
calling for disqualification under the 14th Amendment. Now, that tune is
changing—and Trump's series of indictments create even more of an
opportunity.
Fortunately, MoveOn members and our allies have already been laying the
groundwork for the demand he be disqualified—and more and more leading
voices are amplifying this call.
California Representative Adam Schiff, the lawyer and constitutional
scholar who led Trump's first impeachment, said Sunday on MSNBC, "By the
clear terms of the 14th Amendment, [Trump] should be disqualified from
holding office."^10
In New Hampshire, which has long been one of the first states to cast
ballots in the presidential primary, Bryant Messner, a Republican whom
Trump endorsed for U.S. Senate in 2020, asked the state's attorney general
to determine whether Trump qualifies for the ballot.^11
And in a radio interview last week, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn
Benson said "there are valid legal arguments being made" for keeping Trump
off the ballot and that it's something she is discussing with other
secretaries of state, including those in presidential battlegrounds.^12
Disqualifying Trump from state ballots is going to be one of the biggest
political battles of the 2024 race, and Trump knows it. That's why he
lashed out on Monday on his social media platform "Truth Social" that
using the 14th Amendment to disqualify him is "just another 'trick' being
used by the Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, to again
steal an Election."^13
John, we have to come together to demand that state officials
uphold the Constitution and disqualify Trump from the ballot, but it's
going to take a massive effort. That's why MoveOn ran a powerful ad during
the first Republican presidential debate calling on Trump to be
disqualified and why we're organizing state by state. Already, nearly
400,000 people have signed our petition to disqualify Trump. But we've
just gotten started, and we need your help to fuel our work to disqualify
Trump from the ballot and protect U.S. democracy.
Are you in, John? Will you help keep Trump off the 2024
ballot? Chip in $5 a month to power and sustain this
democracy-saving work.
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Together, we'll defeat Trump and Trumpism and build a future where
everyone can thrive.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mohammad, Kenia, Chris, Thad, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Could the 14th Amendment keep Trump off the ballot in 2024?" The
Washington Post, September 5, 2023
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2. "Conservative Case Emerges to Disqualify Trump for Role on Jan. 6," The
New York Times, August 11, 2023
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3. "The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again," The
Atlantic, August 19, 2023
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4. "The sleeper legal fight that could define 2024: Is Trump even eligible
to run?" Politico, September 1, 2023
[link removed]
5. "Maine officials evaluating whether Trump can appear on ballot,"
Portland Press Herald, August 31, 2023
[link removed]
6. "N.H. Attorney General will consider Trump's eligibility to run again,"
Concord Monitor, August 29, 2023
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7. "Constitution's insurrection clause may block Trump from 2024 ballots."
The Blade, August 31, 2023
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8. "Conservative Case Emerges to Disqualify Trump for Role on Jan. 6," The
New York Times, August 11, 2023
[link removed]
9. "Could the 14th Amendment keep Trump off the ballot in 2024?" The
Washington Post, September 5, 2023
[link removed]
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. "Liberal groups seek to use the Constitution's insurrection clause to
block Trump from 2024 ballots," The Washington Post, August 31, 2023
[link removed]
13. Post by Donald Trump, Truth Social, September 4, 2023
[link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? Book bans have skyrocketed thanks to
right-wing state laws which have forced teachers to remove books from
their classrooms. In response, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile,"
filling it with books that the far right has banned, and driving it around
to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will
attract media attention. To keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into
2024, we need your help.
Will you start a monthly gift to power our critical work?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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