The desperation is growing for Democrats to keep President-elect Donald Trump from assuming the presidency.
The election has been decided, and Vice President Kamala Harris has conceded, but much like in 2016 when celebrities made a video begging electors not to vote for the president-elect, some Democrats cannot handle the decision of the American voters.
This week, liberal attorneys Evan Davis and David Schulte penned an op-ed published in The Hill in which they suggested that Congress use Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to stop the president-elect from doing what more than 77 million voters hired him to do.
“Disqualification is based on insurrection against the Constitution and not the government. The evidence of Donald Trump’s engaging in such insurrection is overwhelming. The matter has been decided in three separate forums, two of which were fully contested with the active participation of Trump’s counsel,” they said.
“The first fully contested proceeding was Trump’s second impeachment trial. On Jan. 13, 2021, then-President Trump was impeached for ‘incitement of insurrection.’ At the trial in the Senate, seven Republicans joined all Democrats to provide a majority for conviction but failed to reach the two-thirds vote required for removal from office. Inciting insurrection encompasses ‘engaging in insurrection’ against the Constitution ‘or giving aid and comfort to the enemies thereof,’ the grounds for disqualification specified in Section 3,” the pair said.
“The second contested proceeding was the Colorado five-day judicial due process hearing where the court ‘found by clear and convincing evidence that President Trump engaged in insurrection as those terms are used in Section Three.’ The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed. On further appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court held that states lack power to disqualify candidates for federal office and that federal legislation was required to enforce Section 3. The court did not address the finding that Trump had engaged in insurrection,” the attorneys said.
“Finally, there is the bipartisan inquiry of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. More than half of the witnesses whose testimony was displayed at its nine public hearings were Republicans, including members of the Trump administration. The inescapable conclusion of this evidence is that Trump engaged in insurrection against the Constitution. In particular, Trump unlawfully demanded that his vice president, Mike Pence, throw out votes in the Electoral College for political opponent Joe Biden, a power he did not have. While the riot was in progress, Trump used Pence’s rejection of his demand to further enflame the crowd and cause them to chant ‘Hang Mike Pence!’” the attorneys wrote.
The pair did concede that some could say that the Supreme Court has already decided on the matter in the Colorado case, Trump v. Anderson, but they do not agree with that assessment.
They ended the piece with a dose of reality on how tough it would be to actually have such a measure pass.
“To make an objection under the Count Act requires a petition signed by 20 percent of the members of each House. If the objection is sustained by majority vote in each house, the vote is not counted and the number of votes required to be elected is reduced by the number of disqualified votes. If all votes for Trump were not counted, Kamala Harris would be elected president,” they said.
The opinion piece was met with mockery and disdain on X by those who support the president-elect.
“Trump won the popular vote, every swing state, and the electoral college The Hill is now plotting an insurrection to stop him – Disbar the authors of this article and send the FBI into their offices That’s how it works right?” DC Draino said.
“Sounds like @thehill is endorsing insurrection,” Robby Starbuck said.
“Yes, try blocking the inauguration of a President who won the popular vote and the electoral college. Let’s see how that goes for y’all,” he added.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
