


Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) defended the “powerful argument” that former President Donald Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot could prevent him from holding office under the 14th Amendment.
“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment,” Kaine said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week." “And that was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as laid out in the Constitution. So I think there’s a powerful argument to be made,” adding the issue will likely be "resolved in the courts."
BLAKE MASTER'S EXPECTED SENATE RUN CATCHES SOME ARIZONA REPUBLICANS OFF GUARD
While there’s a “powerful argument to be made” that former Pres. Trump is disqualified from running again under the 14th Amendment, Sen. Tim Kaine predicts that the issue while be "resolved in the courts." https://t.co/gLfhOlFr03 pic.twitter.com/KvpDBqrSAB
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Kaine joins a number of Democratic lawmakers and legal scholars looking into whether the clause could block Trump from reelection in 2024, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who stated this week that the former president is “absolutely” disqualified from future office holding on CNN this week. Across party lines, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson warned the clause could keep Trump off the ballots at the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee last week.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment clarifies that no one who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
“The language is specific — if you give aid and comfort to those who engage in an insurrection against the constitution of the United States, it doesn’t say against the United States, it says against the constitution,” Kaine said.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment clarifies that no one who has taken an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
Critics argue that the 14th Amendment does not disqualify Trump from holding office because he has yet to be convicted in any court of law or by Congress of participating in an insurrection or rebellion.
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Multiple states are preparing to counter legal efforts to remove Trump from the ballot citing the 14th Amendment. Lawsuits are underway in Arizona, Michigan, and New Hampshire to bar the former president from running under this Constitutional clause, with members of the Republican Party pledging to fight to keep his name on the ballot.
“There’s no question that we will fight, and we’ll use all of the tools available to us to fight anyone’s access being denied on the ballot,” Chris Ager, a Republican state committeeman in New Hampshire, told the New York Times.