Sen. Kaine says 14th Amendment could be used to nullify Trump's 2024 presidential bid

By 
 September 4, 2023

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) warned on Sunday that he beieves President Donald Trump's 2024 White House bid could be nullified under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

According to Kaine, Trump's efforts to reasses the results of the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 could make him an environment where his candidacy is in question, as The Washington Times reported.

According to the amendment, a candidate for president must not have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof."

The Senator's Rational

“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment. That was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as laid out in the Constitution,” Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think there’s a powerful argument to be made. My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts,” he said.

Last week, a judge, appointed by Obama, ruled against a Florida tax attorney who had sued to remove Trump from the state's presidential ballot on the grounds that he violated the 14th Amendment.

When asked about it, Kaine appeared to agree, stating his party "just got to win in 2024.

“I’ll let the lawyers worry about the 14th Amendment," Kaine said. “My colleagues and I — our focus is on winning.”

Another Democrat's Perspective

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) made an almost identical argument on the same day during an appearance on MSNBC, saying that disqualifying Trump could be a 'legitimate issue' in the 2024 election cycle.

On Sunday, the California congressman said there is “pretty clear” proof Trump violated the 14th Amendment's third provision, which bars “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from public office.

Schiff told MSNBC that there is a “valid argument” for keeping Trump off the ballot after reports that election officials around the U.S. are preparing for legal challenges against Trump's 2024 presidential bid.

“If you engage in acts of insurrection or rebellion against the government, or you give aid and comfort to those who do, you are disqualified from running,” Schiff told host Jen Psaki.

“It doesn’t require that you be convicted of insurrection. It just requires that you have engaged in these acts,” he said, later adding how that definition “fits Donald Trump to a T.”

Schiff stated that any case against the former president would still be subject to significant legal scrutiny, telling Psaki that any 14th Amendment-based challenges to Trump's candidacy would likely reach the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority of 6-3.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson
© 2015 - 2024 Conservative Institute. All Rights Reserved.