It’s the stalking horse threat to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign that few are talking about. I’m not referring to the combined 91 felonies that the forty-fifth president has been charged with in four major criminal cases (though, they do factor into this).
I’m referring to the ongoing legal challenge to Trump’s qualifications of being made president again under the so-called “Insurrection Clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment. Presently, there’s a case challenging Trump’s constitutional eligibility to become an elected officer again set to be heard Oct. 30 in a Denver, Col. court.
Should that challenge make it through the state court, it is more than likely that it will be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). In turn, the SCOTUS will have to rule on whether Trump would be ineligible to assume office under the Fourteenth Amendment’s “Insurrection Clause”.
A Majority of Americans Think Trump Should Be Disqualified
But the American people are speaking out about this issue. And the results of the polls inquiring likely voters about the subject is not looking good for Trump.
A recent POLITICO-Morning Consult poll asked likely voters if they were willing to support an effort to disqualify the forty-fifth president from ever holding office again under the parameters of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
More than half—51 percent—of those polled said they do, in fact, support the removal of President Trump from ballots in the 2024 Presidential Election simply because of the fact that Trump is ineligible to serve as president again. Meanwhile, 34 percent of those polled said they do not support removing Trump from the ballot in 2024.
The real kicker in this poll is what the independents in the survey said. Sure, those polled separated in their predictable partisan groups.
Seventy-nine percent of Democrats obviously support removing Trump from the ballot because of purported violations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s “Insurrection Clause.”
But 49 percent of independents say they believe that Trump incited an insurrection on January 6 and, therefore, he was disqualified from ever being president again.
At the same time, interestingly, 25 percent of Republicans polled also supported removing Trump from ballots because of alleged violations of the Insurrection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Trump Continues to Do Poorly with Independents
This comes after another poll was released earlier this week indicating that the former president, while dominating among likely Republican Party Primary voters, fares miserably with independents nationally. These independents must be won by the Trump Campaign if the former president is to become the president yet again in 2024.
But 49 percent of independents believe that Trump doesn’t even qualify to hold office ever again under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Some states, such as Minnesota, are saying they will need a court decision on the matter no later than Jan. 5, as that is the last possible day for Minnesota election officials to have all their balloting in order to hold the state’s GOP primary.
Regardless, the Colorado challenge is not the only challenge to Trump’s candidacy on the grounds of the Fourteenth Amendment. And until the SCOTUS rules on the matter—which will be some time—this will continue being a stalking horse crisis that Trump and his team ignore at their own peril.
Republicans Need to Wake Up from Their Trump Delusion
With such uncertainty hanging over the head of the GOP frontrunner, it should be time for Republicans to have a real “Come to Jesus” moment and recognize that, whatever good Trump did as president, he cannot evade the law.
While the law has certainly been weaponized by Trump’s political foes, that doesn’t negate the fact that Trump is fighting a losing battle here. It would behoove the GOP to come together and support another candidate; someone who shares Trump’s policies but is more effective and without the legal and ethical baggage of Donald Trump.
Will the GOP recognize this before it’s too late, though?
The world watches with macabre fascination as the Grand Old Party commits political suicide in service to the massive ego of Donald Trump.
A 19FortyFive Senior Editor and an energy security analyst at the The-Pipeline, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (July 23). Weichert occasionally serves as a Subject Matter Expert for various organizations, including the Department of Defense. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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