It’s clear as day in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which states:
“No person shall … hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, … who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
This requirement has already been applied to remove from public office Cowboys for Trump co-founder and former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin in New Mexico.
Griffin was found guilty of a misdemeanor for engaging in insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, though he did not go inside the building. In doing so, Griffin violated his oath to “support and uphold the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico, and the Constitution of the United States.” The initial ruling removed Griffin from office immediately, and on appeal, the ruling was upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
The 14th Amendment applies to any elected official -- whether a County Commissioner or the President of the United States. That means, it includes Donald Trump -- the person who directed an armed mob to march on the Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of electors and the peaceful transfer of power.
At his Inauguration in 2017, Trump took an oath to protect the U.S. Constitution. Four years later, he violated that oath with his efforts to remain in office after losing reelection.
The violent insurrection was the culmination of a months-long project to try to overturn the results of a free and fair election. Trump tried to intimidate state officials into reversing the election by “finding” votes that did not exist. He recruited “alternative” slates of electors to cast unauthorized votes for him in the Electoral College. He invited extremists to the Capitol on January 6 to try to prevent the formal counting of electoral votes. And then, having been informed that members of the crowd were carrying deadly weapons, he sent them to the Capitol building -- which they invaded, threatening to find and assassinate lawmakers.
Trump continued to provide aid and comfort to the hundreds of assailants actively assaulting police officers when he did nothing but watch the extreme physical violence he had unleashed unfold on television.
According to sworn testimony by his closest aides, President Trump refused to call in the National Guard or any other support for the Capitol police, who were literally fighting for their lives to protect the lives of those within the building. Not only that, he tweeted further criticism of his own vice president, literally stoking the cries of “Hang Mike Pence!”
Trump’s betrayal of the Constitution is unconscionable and -- while the attempted coup was unsuccessful -- it led to the deaths of at least five people and severe injuries of hundreds more.
It was an insurrection. It was violent. It was a violation of Trump’s oath of office.
The 14th Amendment is clear, Trump is disqualified and must be barred from serving in elected office in America ever again. Sign the petition to tell election officials to keep Trump off the ballot now.
