Outrage erupted when news emerged last Friday that New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan had met with New Hampshire attorney Bryant Messner, with the two discussing whether the 14th Amendment, particularly Section Three of it, makes Trump intelligible to run for President.
As reference, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment provides that “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.“
People who want Trump removed from the ballot allege that Trump’s encouraging people to protest on January 6th constituted his having “engaged in insurrection” against the United States, as they allege that the January 6th protest constituted an insurrection.
In any case, Scanlan’s meeting with Messner quickly became a serious controversy, with Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk using his immense network to call on his supporters to contact Scalan’s office and demand Trump not be taken off the ballot.
Kirk and his crowd rallied to action because Messner, with whom Scanlan was meeting, has recently said, “I really don’t view myself as turning on Trump, as odd as that sounds. I love this country. I’ve served this country. I’ve taken an oath to this country. My sons are serving right now and I believe someone’s got to step up to defend the Constitution.” He then added, “Someone needs to take some action legally so this thing can get in front of the Supreme Court sooner rather than later to interpret this section.“
Scanlan, at the time, said that he was looking for legal opinions. In his words: “Not being a lawyer and not wanting to make a decision in a vacuum, I will be soliciting some legal opinions on what is appropriate or not before I make any decision. I have some in-house staff attorneys that are election experts. I will be asking the attorney general’s office for their input. And ultimately whatever is decided is probably going to require some judicial input.”
Scanlan ultimately backed off, however, and told NBC News he is “not seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot, and I have not said that I am seeking to remove any names from the presidential primary ballot.”
RINO presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson wants Trump removed via the 14th Amendment as well, saying when on the debate stage that, “Over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump was morally disqualified from being president again as a result of what happened on January 6th. More people are understanding the importance of that, including conservative legal scholars. I’m not going to support somebody who’s been convicted of a serious felony or who is disqualified under our Constitution.”
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