The Constitution Says Insurrectionists Can't Hold Office. So What Is Trump?
About this episode
Klein brings back Times columnist David French to walk through the constitutional battle over Donald Trump's ballot eligibility. They explain the Colorado Supreme Court's ruling that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies Trump as an insurrectionist, and Maine's similar action — provisions that are counter-majoritarian but meant to keep oath-breaking insurrectionists from killing the democracy that elected them. French lays out the originalist case from Federalist Society scholars William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen that the historical meaning of 'insurrection' covers January 6, that the provision is self-executing and needs no criminal conviction, and that Colorado's process likely satisfied due process. He predicts the Supreme Court faces a heavy lift given the text's strength, and argues disqualification is the most stabilizing option, since a second Trump term would be an all-MAGA administration built for vengeance.