Though the outcome in other groups was reversed, more women in new polling from YouGov and The Economist said they believed that Donald Trump is not eligible to run for president under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution compared to those saying the opposite. Forty-six percent agreed with the idea, while 41 percent disagreed.
Portions of that amendment that block individuals who went back on an oath of office via engaging in insurrection from later holding a slew of government positions have been used in a range of challenges to Trump running for office. That list includes a case originating in Colorado that Trump has now appealed to the Supreme Court, though for now, a hold on the original decision from Colorado means he’s on track to appear on ballots there. However, the state’s highest court did conclude that Trump both engaged in insurrection and was subject to that amendment’s rules.
Observers from the legal profession noted on MSNBC this week that Trump wasn’t even leading at the Supreme Court with an argument that he didn’t engage in insurrection. Perhaps such was indicative of an acknowledgement of the strength of the indications that Trump did, in fact, do so via his argued incitement of the violent crowds that descended on the Capitol in early 2021. At the Supreme Court, the Trump team is arguing that moving forward with a block on the ex-president showing up on forthcoming ballots would disenfranchise supporters of his, meaning effectively push them from the balloting process.
Notably, a conspiracy towards that exact aim targeting other individuals is among the accusations that Trump is facing in a criminal case from Special Counsel Jack Smith at the federal Justice Department. In short, carrying Trump’s ambitions to fruition after the last presidential election would have effectively blocked the combined votes of the many Americans who voted for Joe Biden, giving him a winning margin in the electoral college. Prosecutors in that case have also pointed to Trump’s post-presidency expressions of support for rioters as evidently indicative of his general mindset. The prosecution has shared ambitions of pointing at trial to Trump repeatedly dangling the prospect of eventually pardoning rioters if he regains the presidency.
