Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday he believes Donald Trump’s 2024 White House bid could be quashed under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment over the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack and the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The amendment states that a person cannot be elected president if he has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”
“In my view, the attack on the Capitol that day was designed for a particular purpose at a particular moment. That was to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power as laid out in the Constitution,” Mr. Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I think there’s a powerful argument to be made. My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts,” he said.
However, Mr. Kaine’s legal theory has already been tried and rejected.
An Obama-appointed judge last week dismissed a case brought by a Florida tax attorney seeking to oust Mr. Trump from the state’s presidential ballot under the 14th Amendment.
Mr. Kaine seemed to acknowledge that, by saying his party has “just got to win in 2024.”
“I’ll let the lawyers worry about the 14th Amendment,” Mr. Kaine said. “My colleagues and I — our focus is on winning.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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