‘Trump Violated His Oath and Disqualified Himself,’ Lawsuit Argues in Attempt to End Trump’s Presidential Campaign

William FurneyOct 31, 2023

Minute Read

Two US courts are due to begin hearing arguments from lawyers representing liberal groups who say the insurrection clause in the US Constitution should rule out another presidential run by Donald Trump.

Disqualification Over 2020 Debacle

The cases were filed in Colorado and Minnesota and seek to boot Trump off the 2024 presidential ballot over the insurrection that occurred at the US Capitol following his election loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

Trump Didn’t Defend the Constitution

A lawsuit filed in Colorado by liberal organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington alleges that Trump broke his oath of office in not defending the Constitution.

Attempts To Overthrow Election Result

Editorial credit: Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock.

The suit alleges that “four years after taking an oath to ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution as President of the United States, Trump tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, leading to a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol to stop the lawful transfer of power to his successor.”

Trump Disqualified Himself

The lawsuit continues: “By instigating this unprecedented assault on the American constitutional order, Trump violated his oath and disqualified himself under the Fourteenth Amendment from holding public office, including the office of the president.”

Trump Fightback

Lawyers for the former president say the newly filed lawsuits to try to stop him from running for the White House amount to “election interference” and that the insurrection clause in the Constitution doesn’t refer to the president in its wording – just other officials, like House representatives and senators. That, they claim, means the lawsuits are frivolous and should be thrown out.

Attack on US Capitol

Editorial credit: Thomas Hengge / Shutterstock.

Trump refused to accept defeat in the 2020 presidential election, instead insisting he won the vote, which he claimed was “rigged.” He called on his supporters to protest the election result at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, where a confirmation hearing was taking place to acknowledge Biden as the winner and therefore the next president. Violence erupted that led to the deaths of five people. Over 1,000 were arrested.

Trump Indicted

The former president has been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and also allegedly blocking the transfer of power to Biden. He denies the charges.

Court Hearings

The Colorado court is due to hold hearings into the lawsuit against Trump’s candidacy in the 2024 presidential election while arguments are set to begin in Minnesota on Thursday.

Appeals Highly Likely

Any verdicts that go against Trump and his eligibility to run in next year’s presidential vote are highly likely to be appealed and may reach the US Supreme Court for a final decision, legal analysts say.

Previous Eligibility Hearings

Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller said it wasn’t the first time the courts had heard eligibility cases regarding presidential contenders, notably concerning their status of “natural born citizen,” which is required to run for the White House.

“We’ve had hearings with presidential candidates debating their eligibility before – Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, John McCain,” Muller told The Associated Press, adding that the newly filed cases were different in that they dealt with a clause in the Constitution.

Leading Republican Candidate

Trump dominates his Republican rivals seeking the GOP nomination for next year’s race by a polling margin of about 50 points. His nearest contender is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is far behind at just over 14 percent in an average of national polling. Other rivals include former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, polling at 8 percent, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, with just 5.8 percent of voter preferences.

Pence Campaign End

Image Credit: Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock.

The Republican field narrowed over the weekend with an announcement by Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, that he was withdrawing from the race. Trump, speaking at an event in Las Vegas, subsequently urged Pence to endorse him, suggesting he owed his backing to Trump for being “disloyal” by not helping him to stay in power after the 2020 election.

Uncertain Path Ahead

Even if the lawsuits against his 2024 candidacy are dismissed and he is crowned the Republican nominee for the 2024 race, Trump faces an uphill battle on the road to the White House. Along with the indictment over the 2020 election, Trump is also fighting off federal charges relating to alleged mishandling of top-secret government documents that prosecutors say he took to his Florida home when his term ended.