THE HILL
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said Thursday he thinks the U.S. Constitution “could not be any clearer” that former President Trump is ineligible to hold public office again under the 14th Amendment.
“This is a chance for these [Supreme Court] justices to show that they really mean it when they talk about textualism, when they talk about originalism. The plain text of the Constitution could not be any clearer,” Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, said in an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room.”
“If Donald Trump is not disqualified from holding office again after what he did on January 6 in the weeks leading up to it, then who is disqualified? Why would they read an entire provision out of the constitution?” Raskin added. “So this is their opportunity to behave like real Supreme Court justices.”
Raskin’s remarks come as Trump has pledged to appeal a ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court that declared him ineligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot.
The ruling cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that says former public officials are ineligible to hold public office again if, “having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States,” they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
