During a recent discussion on MSNBC with host Nicolle Wallace, voting rights attorney Marc Elias argued that former President Donald Trump is, under the Constitution, legally barred from being included as a candidate for president on the 2024 ballot.
Those making this argument point to the 14th Amendment, which contains restrictions on those involved in insurrection — or even simply connected to it through providing “aid and comfort” — later holding public office. The provisions specifically apply to those who had in some context taken an oath to defend the Constitution before their later acts.
“Certainly the role of the former president clearly qualifies as disqualifying him,” Elias asserted, discussing the events of January 6. “But to be clear, it’s not just people like me. It’s not just people like Judge Luttig or Professor Tribe. Two very conservative, Federalist Society professors — in good standing Federalist Society professors — recently wrote a very persuasive law review that said that Donald Trump and probably others, including members of Congress, are disqualified under the 14th Amendment from holding office, and they should not be allowed on the ballot.”
Elias also agreed that no further action would need to be taken to implement the claimed restrictions on Trump appearing on next November’s ballots at all. The idea from Elias and others furthering the claim of Trump’s disqualification is that no criminal conviction, Congressionally established enforcement mechanism, impeachment proceeding, or anything substantially similar is needed to effectively implement the restrictions.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog organization, has previously announced an intention to bring legal action with the aim of securing the enforcement of the ballot restrictions that these experts believe to be already present. Those across individual states who will potentially be tasked with deciding on whether to move forward with the ballot restrictions are the officials running elections, a process that is often helmed by Secretaries of State.
