We’ve talked before about how this is a bit of a ticking time bomb for Trump: There are numerous efforts to declare that Trump is disqualified from being President under Section 3, of the Fourteenth Amendment. This section was designed to keep Confederates out of power after the Civil War, but it was written more broadly than that. Here’s what that part of the amendment says:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, 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. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Thus, the argument would go that Trump somehow committed insurrection or rebellion—even though not even Jack Smith decided to indict him for that. Of course, the argument is specious, requiring the courts to ignore that Trump didn’t say or do anything that wasn’t protected by the Constitution, but the danger is that activist judges will try to keep him from being president by the abuse of this process, and then claim that they are saving democracy. You know, by preventing people from voting for the candidate of their choice. It’s dirty, it’s underhanded and, unfortunately, it might just succeed in preventing him from becoming president.
But we have learned that there has been a setback in that effort.
This is the right decision. Colorado hopefully will take note.
— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) November 8, 2023
Conservative Brief frankly can be an irritating website to dig information out of. So, you might prefer a Politico link:
Minnesota Supreme Court: Trump can remain on the ballot — for now https://t.co/6seGuJpf3L
— POLITICO (@politico) November 8, 2023
One thing that is nice about Politico is that they usually link to the actual opinion or order, and this is no exception. We have read it over—all four pages—and the gist of it is this. This was an attempt to keep Trump off the primary ballot, not the ballot for the general election. While the government is plainly involved, primary elections are ultimately a function of the Republican Party. The Republican Party is allowed to have delegates to its convention that support a candidate who can’t be president and the party is even allowed to decide it wants to nominate someone like that and that is no business of any official in Minnesota.
We get why this would be desirable for the courts: Trump might still lose the nomination fight and, therefore, they might never have to worry about it. Still, this leaves a ticking time bomb for next year’s election: What if Trump gets the nomination and crucial states decide he is not even allowed to be on the ballot for the general election? And the concern that this might happen is serious enough that it really should be settled sooner rather than later. As it stands right now, some might say ‘even if Trump is the nominee, they will rig the election with this Fourteenth Amendment nonsense, so we better nominate someone they can’t do that to.’ Others might say, ‘we have to support Trump 100% to show people this kind of lawfare doesn’t work.’ We won’t try to guess which argument will win out, but this really shouldn’t be part of the debate over who gets the nomination. So, while Trump shouldn’t be kept off the primary ballot, we are not sure that kicking the can down the road is a good thing. We tend to think that the fairest process is one where these issues are settled early.
Some reactions:
Wow. This actually gives me hope that MN is not completely lost. https://t.co/pnTM7Dn4he
— apple_it (@apple_it_good) November 8, 2023
Respectfully, this gives us no hope on the subject. We hope that the courts will not try to rig this election by via an abuse of the Fourteenth Amendment, recognizing that this would be potentially fatal to national cohesion, but this decision doesn’t increase or decrease that hope. Seriously, if they were upset about January 6, 2021, they should pause and imagine how people might react if the election is openly rigged and stolen in 2024. To be clear, we aren’t advocating any kind of violence, but we are predicting it.
Oh: here's THE ACTUAL ruling!😅
— Em 🌊🟧🌻🌎 (@EloolyM) November 8, 2023
BREAKING: The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump can appear on the 2024 PRIMARY ballot, but left open the possibility he could be struck from the general election ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Pretty much.
Jenna, it's not gonna end well.
— alealefrank (@alealefrank) November 8, 2023
I'm will Write In Donald Trump on ballot even if he's in a jail cell!
— Just a Human #2 (@HumanGuest313) November 9, 2023
That's great news, trump should be defeated at the ballot
— Ralph (@Ralphbert_) November 8, 2023
What cowards!
— AintThatAmerica 😵💫🇺🇸🤥 (@AmericaAin1267) November 8, 2023
Just pushing the issue to the general election, hoping they never have to rule. That's an example of the judiciary bending to politics.
I don’t understand the effort to keep him off the ballot. What’s everyone afraid of? Joe Biden has 81 million voters.
— chris eagan 🇺🇸 (@chriseagan) November 8, 2023
We think we detect sarcasm.
This was a 105-yard punt by the Minnesota Supreme Court. https://t.co/905kEONhTH
— Ivan the K™ (@IvanTheK) November 8, 2023
But one more insurrection and he’s out! https://t.co/x3Ri2MdnqK
— Puppy (@liberalpuppy) November 8, 2023
Technically true, since he didn’t have one in the first place, so, therefore, one more would prevent him from running again.
Congratulations to our client President Trump and the Trump campaign, and to my partners and other @dhillonlaw colleagues who obtained this victory! Onward! https://t.co/L8KAXQHulV
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) November 8, 2023
Will Colorado's Soros-funded anti-democracy fanatics take note? https://t.co/MPNemVP01E
— Backbone Radio (@BackboneRadio) November 9, 2023
🚨BREAKING: Minnesota Supreme Court blocks bid to remove Trump from the state's 2024 GOP primary ballot next year in 14th Amendment challenge.
— Wayne DuPree (@WayneDupreeShow) November 8, 2023
Anyone that thought this had a chance doesn’t know civics and I return to the suggestion that social media accounts need advance… pic.twitter.com/b3jwQmazaB
The rest of the post says:
Anyone that thought this had a chance doesn’t know civics and I return to the suggestion that social media accounts need advance civics/social studies classroom time
Except we think the people celebrating are getting ahead of themselves.
The Minnesota Supreme Court--dominated by Democrats 6-1--tactically retreated in the Democrats' illegal campaign to kick Trump off the ballot.
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) November 8, 2023
They'll wait until after a Democrat Denver judge kicks Trump off the Colorado ballot on or before November 17th.https://t.co/YkgNZoQhSQ pic.twitter.com/bn396ZCVv0
The rest of the post says:
They'll wait until after a Democrat Denver judge kicks Trump off the Colorado ballot on or before November 17th.
Well, the Minnesota Supreme Court really has boxed themselves in that they have to wait until someone tries to put him on the general election ballot.
Really the story here is: they’ll let him be on the primary ballot, while reserving the right to kick him off the general election ballot https://t.co/Ix9fqK6cBk
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) November 9, 2023
And, of course, Trump himself was happy about it.
We’re not sure where the ‘Without Merit, Unconstitutional’ quote comes from—it doesn’t appear in the decision, and, in fact, the decision doesn’t rule on the constitutional issue at all (except, arguably, the constitutional relationship between presidential qualifications and the primary process). There’s no question in our mind that he should be on the primary ballot, but we worry about the effect it will have to leave the general election question up in the air.
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