On Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump made official what he had been teasing for months: that he is once more running for president in 2024. It turns out Trump's foe to winning the nomination isn't merely any fellow Republican contenders, but House Democrats who are obsessed with barring him from holding office again.
As Trump announces bid, Dem Rep. David Cicilline is circulating legislation to bar Donald Trump from holding office, citing the 14th Amendment that bans individuals from holding office who have engaged in an insurrection. Letter sent to colleagues: pic.twitter.com/vQDiE0enUB
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 16, 2022
Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) has circulated legislation to do just that, using an argument that the 14th Amendment bars those who have engaged in an insurrection from holding office. The passage in mind applied to Confederate soldiers, with the 14th Amendment being ratified not long after the Civil War.
"This language in our Constitution clearly intended to bar insurrectionists from holding office in the United States," Cicilline's letter to colleagues wrote after citing the relevant passage.
With emphasis, the congressman's letter also claimed that there is "proof" Trump "engaged in insurrection on January 6th with the intention of overturning the lawful 2020 election results." Such "proof" Cicilline points to has been supposedly "demonstrated through the January 6th Committee hearings, the 2021 impeachment trial, and other reporting."
Regardless of how much Cicilline claims that second impeachment trial is "proof," Trump was not convicted, as the Senate did not get the required two-thirds to do so. It's not surprising that Cicilline would bring up the second impeachment, though, as he was one of the impeachment managers.
It's also worth emphasizing that the Senate trial did not even begin until Trump had already left office and President Joe Biden had been sworn in. This was cause for some senators, especially Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), to argue they shouldn't have even proceeded with that second impeachment trial, though enough senators voted to move forward with it.
Cicilline is not the first to try this tactic, and Trump is not the first target.
A group of voters brought a suit in attempts to bar Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from running for reelection, also citing the 14th Amendment and January 6. She won that suit. The same happened with soon-to-be former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), with a judge also halting a suit against him. Cawthorn went on to lose his primary a few months later, though. Rep. Jim Banks' (R-IN) Democratic opponent, Aaron "AJ" Calkins, also used the same argument to disqualify the congressman, though the Indiana state election commission unanimously rejected such a desperate attempt.
Trump's most likely primary opponent, at least as of right now following his reelection last Tuesday by nearly 20 points, is Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). A pro-DeSantis Super PAC will reportedly be forming before Thanksgiving, just over a week away, according to a report from Insider last Saturday.