Donald Trump has been pinning hopes of escaping his legal woes on winning the 2024 U.S presidential election, but that pipe dream has recently taken a massive hit, as he was barred from running for president in a state with 19 electoral college votes.
A judge in Illinois took the decision to remove the former President from the state’s ballot, using the 14th Amendment as their reasoning. The amendment, which is most famously associated with the ending of slavery and beginning of deconstruction, has a clause in it that bars any current or former federal, state, and military officials who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against America from being allowed to hold office again. The law was put in place to ensure that traitorous Confederates wouldn’t be able to form power blocks in the American political system and stymy efforts to integrate former slaves into every day life.
Some have nicknamed this the “insurrectionist ban,” which is pretty fitting considering Trump attempted an insurrection when he lost the 2020 election. It’s also quite ironic that the 14th Amendment is the one being used to bar him from office, as the Republican Party’s culture war obsession has seen them attempt to ban books that truthfully display the horrors of slavery and try to whitewash the history of the confederacy so that people don’t remember that they were a bunch of racist, treasonous losers (their breakway state lasted less time than Hannah Montana was on air, after all).
The decision has been paused, which means that Trump and his overstretched legal team have a short amount of time to appeal it. His lawyers will have even more to deal with soon, as a similar challenge to keep Trump off the ballot that began in Colorado is due to be looked at by the U.S Supreme Court. We’re sure that the group of totally unbiased judges will give it a fair hearing.
The Illinois judge who made the ruling, Cook County Circuit Judge Tracie Porter, confirmed the Colorado finding played a big part in their decision, adding that the rationale was “compelling.” This finding from Judge Porter comes just a month after the Illinois State Board of Elections threw out an anti-Trump challenge, claiming in a unanimous vote that they didn’t have the jurisdiction to review the case. This happened after a retired Republican judge that they’d hired to examine the finding concluded that Trump should be barred based on his actions during Jan. 6, but added that only the courts had the power to do something about it.
With this ruling, Illinois joined Colorado and Maine from banning the former Apprentice host from the ballot. However, as mentioned above, we are still waiting for a ruling from the Supreme Court on the matter, who seem to be kicking the can down the road and will likely not pass judgment on the case until after the election. Many believe this is because the Conservative majority ⏤ who are definitely not corrupt at all ⏤ do not want to bar Trump from running but also don’t want to give a future Democratic President the power to commit crimes and go unpunished.
Trump’s legal team has already taken on similar lawsuits in other states and come out on top, so this decision is by no means a guarantee that he won’t be on the ballot. The wheels of justice turn slowly, especially when they’re being gummed up by spurious challenges and legal teams whose main tactic is to obfuscate. Trump’s main defense so far has been that Jan. 6 was simply a “political riot,” a line taken by his lawyer Nicholas Nelson. The attorney referred to the group as an angry mob rather than an organized mass with specific political aims. The guillotine with Mike Pence’s name on it seems like a pretty clear statement of intent, though.
Judge Porter chose to focus on the differences between a “riot” and an “insurrection” in his questioning of Trump’s team, adding: “Is it important to understand why this mob of people came together and what they were actually trying to do?” Whether or not Porter’s decision is upheld comes down to a lot of things. Trump may not even bother to fight this battle, as Illinois is one of the bluest states around. However, the fact that Illinois is Obama’s home state, combined with Trump’s vengeful and petulant personality, might mean he takes specific umbridge at this decision and throws some of his already stretched legal funds at another battle that at best will keep him where he is. Only a moron would go for that tactic, but as we’ve seen, Trump isn’t exactly a smart man.
