On Tuesday, a petition to ban Trump from holding office that was started in December 2022 by progressive political advocacy group MoveOn passed 500,000 signatures. The petition argues that Trump should be disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Surging popularity
The petition surged in popularity in August 2023, after Trump was indicted on felony charges for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. According to University of Richmond Law Professor Carl Tobias, the “damning” indictment “shows how broad and deep the conspiracy was,” and represents “legal jeopardy” for Trump.
Increasing daily
Currently, the petition is gaining several thousand new signatures per day. On the web page, the petition’s creators call Trump’s indictment “an essential step toward holding him accountable for inciting a deadly, white supremacist-led insurrection on January 6, 2021 and attempting to overthrow the government to remain in power.”
More to be done
“This is not over yet,” the petition’s web page warns. “Election officials in every state must respect the Constitution and reject Trump from their ballots. And Congress can help clarify that by passing legislation to bar Trump from office under the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Public comment
“As MoveOn has said many times before,” the group’s political action chief communications officer, Joel Payne, told Newsweek, “Donald Trump is a danger to our freedoms and democracy.”
Crucial case
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider the Colorado state Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump should be barred from the ballot based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The Court has never before ruled on this section of the Constitution.
Key issue
Section 3 reads that any officer of the US who “engages in insurrection” should be barred from holding any further office. Lawsuits attempting to use this to justify removing Trump from the ballot in other states have failed, and more are still considering the problem.
Ruling from above
Maine’s secretary of state ruled that Trump should be barred from the ballot. However, the decision was put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Colorado case, which will likely be decisive in the outcomes of other similar cases.
The timeline
The Supreme Court is set to start hearing arguments on Thursday. With the Republican presidential primary already underway, there is considerable pressure on the Justices to come to a decision fast.
Facing the music
Payne said that Colorado’s decision to remove Trump from the state’s primary ballot “proves that there are consequences for betraying our country.”
Fighting for democracy
“MoveOn and its members,” Payne said, “have been on the frontlines calling for Trump’s disqualification for inciting an insurrection, and we will continue to hold Trump and the MAGA extremists that remain in the halls of Congress accountable for undermining our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”
Arguing back
On Tuesday, over 60 Republicans signed a resolution declaring that Trump “did not engage in insurrection.”
Total farce
One former Capitol officer who was seriously injured during the Jan 6 riot called the resolution “a slap in the face to those of us who almost lost everything defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, including protecting some of the very members of Congress who are now attempting to rewrite history to exonerate former President Trump.”
Bad times
“No piece of paper signed by a group of spineless extremists will ever change the facts about that dark day,” the officer stated. Five people lost their lives and over 140 Capitol officers were injured as a result of the mob violence on Jan 6.
The reality
“The insurrection was violent,” the officer stressed. “It was deadly and it will happen again if we do not expunge the MAGA ideology that stoked the flames of insurrection in the first place.”
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