Does the Constitution Disqualify Trump From Running For President Again?

Earlier this month, a paper published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution disqualifies former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump from running for office.

The Clause: The section in question reads, “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath… shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

Disqualified: An article in The Atlantic (Left bias) argued that Trump’s action following the 2020 election disqualifies him from seeking public office, regardless of the outcome of his indictment pertaining to the 2020 election. The article states, “The disqualification clause operates independently of any such criminal proceedings and, indeed, also independently of impeachment proceedings and of congressional legislation.”

“Chaos and Grief”: An article in the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) deemed the argument “impressive.” Assuming a legal challenge to Trump’s campaign would reach the Supreme Court, the writer determined it is “in the nation’s interest that the question be resolved in a rapid and nationally uniform way.” Additionally, the writer cast doubt on the Supreme Court Justices enforcing the clause, arguing that if Trump’s disqualification “threatens to disrupt settled expectations to the point of spreading chaos and grief through society, most of them will refrain.”