It’s Donald Trump Day at the US Supreme Court. How will the court decide his fate?
Politics :
On Thursday, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments to determine if Donald Trump should or shouldn’t be allowed to remain on the Colorado presidential primary ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court has already ruled that Trump should not be on the ballot due to the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause — and his involvement in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection against democracy on Capitol Hill.
If the court decides that states have a right to omit Donald Trump from their presidential primary ballots, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Illinois, and a handful of other states would immediately remove him from contention and effectively make it impossible for him to win in November. However, if the court decides that Trump should remain on the ballot, they risk appearing political and diminishing the US Constitution that they’ve been sworn to decipher and defend.
With Trump Day finally here, what might the high court do?
According to conservative commentator Charlie Sykes, the US Supreme Court is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario and has a huge dilemma on its hands.
During an appearance on MSNBC earlier this week, Sykes said he believes Chief Justice John Roberts and much of the rest of the court will try to find a way out that doesn’t require them to uphold this difficult constitutional decision.
“Whether you read the words [of the amendment] as they were meant — as they were written or whether you fully understand the intent of the amendment because it was after the Civil War, it was actually about that, you would come to the same conclusion,” MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi said. “This isn’t some weird thing that the people who wrote the amendment weren’t thinking about. It’s kind of exactly what they were thinking about.”
“No, I agree completely, but what the court should do is not necessarily the same thing as what it will do,” said Sykes “What are the justices thinking? They’re thinking they do not want to be put in the middle of this.
“This is John Roberts’ worst nightmare. This is exactly the kinds of things that Supreme Court justices don’t really like to do.” Trump’s argument that he isn’t really an “officer” of the Constitution is “completely ludicrous” and “laughable,” Sykes continued. “These are the kinds of off-ramps that justices who do not want to be in the middle of this are likely to take.
“I agree with you. I think the language is clear. I think the application is clear. The court should apply the 14th Amendment,” Sykes added. “I think it’s highly unlikely they will because despite all the protestations about being originalists, ultimately, the court is a political body as well as a legal body, and I just don’t think they’re going to do this. Which means that, ultimately, the final guardrail is still going to be the American public in November. I don’t know that they’re going to say this, and anyone who expects the Supreme Court will save us from this is engaged in wish casting.”
If the Supreme Court is looking for a way out of having to make this decision, they have at least 1 option. They could uphold the lower court decision and choose not to make a ruling at all. However, this would mean that Colorado’s decision to remove Trump from the ballot would stand.
And so, the question on this Trump Day is this: will the Supreme Court have the testicular fortitude to do what is right — or will they cower and seek a way out of having to decide anything at all? Â
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
It’s Trump Day at the US Supreme Court
