It is time for American politicians, judiciary, and the electorate to step up and support democratic governance. After review of the evidence, the Supreme Court of Colorado found former president Donald Trump guilty in the January 6th insurrection, and therefore determined he is not eligible to run in the Colorado primary election. Their ruling was in accordance with the terms of the 14th Amendment, which specifies that engagement in insurrection disqualifies an individual from holding public office. 

Trump lawyers say the 14th Amendment does not apply to a sitting president. Paraphrasing their argument, they say the Amendment applies to Senators, Representatives, and Officers of the United States. They say a president holds none of those positions, including that of an Officer of the United States Government. If it had been the intent of the Congress that the Amendment should apply to the president, they say, the language would have specified that.

So let’s consider the intent of the framers of the 14th Amendment. The government had just put down an insurrection. Congress drafted and voted for the Amendment; the states ratified it. With it Congress and the states were declaring that those who led, participated in, or supported an insurrection could not be trusted in our democratic government and must not be allowed to hold public office.

I am quite familiar with the detailed language in the 14th Amendment as well as the contemporary political and electoral context of the time in which it was passed. Reading the amendment as excluding the president from its scope is patently absurd. That would mean a president could promote, even lead, an insurrection, and if not ultimately successful the first time, may run for the presidency again, hold the office if elected, and then lead another insurrection to achieve his/her personal objectives. Does any rational person think that Congress would have intended that insurrectionists could not hold any federal or state political office EXCEPT President of the United States?

At this point in time, the only serious question anyone should be asking is whether former President Trump is guilty of insurrection as the Colorado Supreme Court has found. If the answer to that is “YES”, then Donald J. Trump must NOT be allowed to appear on the ballot in any state for any federal or state public office.