Congressman Adam Schiff said Sunday that Republican frontrunner Donald Trump should be “disqualified” from the 2024 presidential race due to the 14th Amendment, which mandates that someone who engages “in acts of insurrection or rebellion against the government, or you give aid and comfort to those who do, you are disqualified from running.”
“It fits Donald Trump to a T,” he said.
Schiff made the statement on an appearance on “Inside With Jen Psaki” on Sunday where he was asked about the role the 14th Amendment may have in limiting the former president’s ability to run again for reelection in 2024.
“There’s an argument circulating about whether the 14th Amendment, that prohibits anyone ‘engaging in insurrection or rebellion’ from holding public office, bars Trump from running for president,” Psaki posed before asking Schiff: “What is your thought on whether that’s a valid argument?”
“I think it is a valid argument,” Schiff said. “You know, the 14th Amendment, Section 3, is pretty clear: If you engage in acts of insurrection or rebellion against the government or you give aid and comfort to those who do, you are disqualified from running. It doesn’t require that you be convicted of insurrection, it just requires that you have engaged in these acts. It is a disqualification from holding office again, and it fits Donald Trump to a T.”
Trump, of course, is currently facing four separate indictments, one of which relates to his alleged conspiracy to defraud the United States in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Looking to how this may play out, Schiff, a Democrat from California, envisions the argument being brought all the way to the Supreme Court, which currently boasts three conservative Trump appointees: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
“I think this will be tested when the Secretary of State either refuses to put him on the ballot or puts him on the ballot and is challenged by a litigant. I would imagine it will go up to the Supreme Court, and that’s the big question mark through all of this, which is: What will the Supreme Court do?” Schiff said. “There are prominent constitutional scholars as well as prominent progressive scholars who believe that he should be disqualified. But will the court take that step ultimately? Only time will tell. But I do think it is a very legitimate issue by the clear terms of the 14th Amendment, he should be disqualified from holding office.”
