No, Trump Should Not Be Removed
Barring Trump from the 2024 ballot, especially by the Colorado method, is the worst thing you could do.
In a historic ruling, the Colorado Supreme Court recently ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for office in 2024, basing its decision on Section 3 of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment that disqualifies “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from holding federal office.
There are a few things to consider here.
Most importantly, it doesn’t seem valid. There is a lot of controversy, but a few points that are being debated include riot vs insurrection (January 6th) and elected vs appointed officials — does the clause apply to leaders chosen popularly?
The good news? We don’t need to get into these debates to figure out the answer. Let’s assume that Trump did engage in insurrection and that the clause does apply to elected officials. The amazing thing is that Trump hasn’t even been charged with, much less found guilty of, insurrection. Even if Trump is a criminal, the correct process should be followed — a state court making a decision based on a crime that hasn’t been proved is just wrong, as the three dissenting judges wrote.
Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past — dare I say, engaged in insurrection — there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office
Justice Carlos Samour, in a dissenting opinion
It’s risky. Call me a cynic — but it seems to me that the United States is in grave danger. The 2024 election will not be a repeat of 2020 — it will be much, much, worse. If he comes to power, it is pretty clear that he will, at the very least, significantly weaken the democratic system.
That given, pulling Trump off the ballot while a large portion of the people want him as their President — as I write now, Trump has been leading in the polls for weeks — is playing exactly into his hand. Trump’s whole idea is that the Democrats are stealing elections from him.
If upheld by SCOTUS, Trump will not have to rely on conspiracy theories as he did in 2020 — this is about as explicit a theft of an election as you can get. What happens when a large faction of people strongly believe that the underlying system of their country is broken? Again, I hate to sound paranoid, but they might revolt.
Civility is breaking down. Trump has openly claimed he’ll “go after” Biden and his family. January 6 did happen — four lives were lost. The worst thing is that if you believe in Trump, violence might even be justified from your perspective. Nobody but egoistic idiots insist that a country that is more than two hundred years old will break down due to one event, and I’m definitely not doing that — but the fact is, I’m worried.
It’s unnecessary. Why do you need this gimmick? If Trump truly did commit the crimes he’s been indicted for, he’ll be convicted. Keep in mind that nearly a quarter of Trump voters say he shouldn’t be nominated for the Republican ballot, much less elected to office, if he’s found guilty of a crime. Both the election interference cases and the classified documents one are quite strong. The justice system is working and working well — this sort of overarching judgement is exactly what might break it. Just wait for the SC to hopefully rule that Trump isn’t immune from prosecution, and move on with things normally.
You might ask: Trump obviously won’t accept his guilt — isn’t that still risky? Yeah, it is — but I’m afraid that at this point, we just have to choose from the many evils. I shudder to think what would happen if Trump loses the 2024 election — but I don’t want to imagine what would happen if he won. Right now, I’m just praying that Haley pulls through — but obviously, there isn’t much reason for hope.
Democracy isn’t everything — stability is. Yes, popular opinion shouldn’t sway courts. There was a time when racial segregation and homophobia were rampant in the US — the Supreme Court served and should continue to serve as a beacon for morality, staying strong in the face of popular pressure.
However, this isn’t about morals. It’s about a nation. Donald Trump isn’t an idea — he’s a living, dangerous, human who wants to become the supreme commander of the United States. Like lots of discriminatory ideology, he has millions of followers — unlike them, attacking him might shake the very foundations of the nation.
So even though if ruled legally, Trump won’t be on the ballot, I’m starting to think that might not be a very good idea. What are you going to do with Trump in prison if the government — assuming it exists — is too weak to hold him there? Popular leaders aren’t above the law — but we should work on convincing the masses that they genuinely should be convicted. Fancy ideas are useless if they have no practical backing — and I’m afraid that this case is one of them.
Out of the many evils, then, the least worst one (that doesn’t seem impossible right now) is Trump losing this November. Not much to stand by, huh?
