A slim majority of voters say that former President Donald Trump, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, is disqualified from doing so under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, according to a new Politico-Morning Consult poll.
Following questions on the Constitution and Trump’s behavior in the wake of the 2020 election, a 51% majority of voters said the 14th Amendment prohibits the former president from running again, versus 34% who said he is not disqualified from running.
In an unusual political twist, liberal activists allied with conservative attorneys have claimed that Trump is ineligible to run under the section of the 14th Amendment that states individuals “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States or who have “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” are barred from holding public office.
The amendment was adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from holding office, but as Trump files paperwork to appear on primary ballots across the country, the theoretical argument to block him from running could soon become hotly contested reality.
The survey’s first question asked Americans if they “support or oppose” that section of the amendment, with 63% saying they strongly or somewhat support it and 16% saying they somewhat or strongly oppose it.
When asked if they believe Trump “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” on Jan. 6, 2021, 51% of respondents said definitely or probably yes, compared to 35% who said definitely or probably no.
According to Politico, 79% of Democrats and 49% of independents agree that he did, while just under a quarter of Republicans say the same. The poll found similar margins for another question, which asked if Trump “gave aid or comfort” to those engaged in insurrection or rebellion.
The final question asked whether Trump should be disqualified under the 14th Amendment, and the responses roughly aligned with respondents’ opinions on whether the former president engaged in or aided an insurrection. The partisan divide was also similar, according to Politico.
Legal experts largely expect that the Supreme Court will ultimately have to decide whether Trump gets booted from the ballot. Free Speech for People, a liberal watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit in Minnesota to keep the former president off the ballot and has sent letters to secretaries of state urging them to do the same. Another liberal watchdog, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has filed a lawsuit in Colorado to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot there.
Both Democrat and Republican secretaries of state have indicated their willingness to punt the issue of Trump’s eligibility to the courts.
“The United States Supreme Court is the appropriate place to resolve this issue,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, told Politico earlier this month. “The bottom line is it’s not about us at all. It doesn’t matter what a secretary of state does because we expect the Supreme Court to be the final arbiter.”
The poll was conducted Sept. 23-25 and surveyed 1,967 registered voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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