# Various states, including Colorado, determine Trump is disqualified from holding office **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 11, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412 "2023-08-11T16:27:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2023, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/182 "2023-09-11T23:28:17Z")
ask yourself this - who, uniquely, would have benefitted had they succeeded? who was hoping for whatever delays they were causing to last ‘just a bit longer’ along with throwing things into confusion? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/183 "2023-09-12T00:05:09Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I know some suits have been filed already since I asked, but I still wonder how the courts would rule on this (very technical) point. I posted upthread that the Supremes are scheduled to have a conference about a Amendment 14, Sec 3 case on the 26th of this month.The meeting is about whether to grant certatori (hear the case) or not. It’s not getting much news for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/184 "2023-09-12T00:38:00Z")
> [@simster](#): > > ask yourself this - who, uniquely, would have benefitted had they succeeded? who was hoping for whatever delays they were causing to last ‘just a bit longer’ along with throwing things into confusion? The guy who has repeatedly said he wants to be president for life of the United States. Donald Trump. The more significant, and much harder, question is — will the world be better off if the Republicans are forced to nominate someone else. Biden is unpopular, as is Trump. Any Republican nominee is likely — guaranteed no, but likely — to beat unpopular Joe Biden if Trump is out. If it’s someone who in her secret heart wants to beat down the populist fever — Nikki Haley — it will be worth it to me. But if this leads to President DeSantis, it probably is not. (And for Democrats who care most about Supreme Court decisions, including abortion, President Haley will not have been worth it either.) P.S. Another question is whether Trump will only be the first of several disqualified candidates. I’m thinking no, but it is worth thinking about. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/185 "2023-09-12T01:14:34Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Any Republican nominee is likely — guaranteed no, but likely — to beat unpopular Joe Biden if Trump is out. Shouldn’t that be “Any _serious_ Republican nominee”? If such a creature was for real. “Serious” might narrow it down a little. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/186 "2023-09-12T01:27:17Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Any Republican nominee is likely — guaranteed no, but likely — to beat unpopular Joe Biden if Trump is out With Trump bitching and pissing and moaning and whining about the GOP being stolen from him unfairly? Biden will get over 55% of the votes cast. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/187 "2023-09-12T01:58:24Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > With Trump bitching and pissing and moaning and whining about the GOP being stolen from him unfairly? Biden will get over 55% of the votes cast. I may see where you are coming from (Trump is an idiot; elections are won by base turnout) but disagree. Trump would have a strong disincentive to pissing off the GOP nominee, who almost surely would dangle a possible pardon to be considered only after all appeals are exhausted. P.S. Trump would be moaning over the Supreme Court decision concerning his ballot access. The GOP nominee would be piously saying that they had wanted Trump to be on the primary ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/188 "2023-09-12T02:08:58Z")
Wouldn’t matter. If anyone but Trump gets the nomination, under any circumstances, that person gets on Trump’s enemy list. And once you’re on the enemy list, the scorpion stings you even if it’s in the middle of the river. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/189 "2023-09-12T02:19:05Z")
If that person had nothing to do with getting Trump off the ballot, why would Trump hate them? Is that too much logic for Trump to handle, and he’ll just hate anyone who has what he wanted, regardless? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/190 "2023-09-12T03:47:14Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Trump would have a strong disincentive to pissing off the GOP nominee, who almost surely would dangle a possible pardon to be considered only after all appeals are exhausted. He’d do it anyway. It’s the scorpion and the frog all over again. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/191 "2023-09-12T20:59:31Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > > Trump would have a strong disincentive to pissing off the GOP nominee, who almost surely would dangle a possible pardon to be considered only after all appeals are exhausted. > > He’d do it anyway. It’s the scorpion and the frog all over again. I wonder if this is wishful thinking. Insulting a judge is a lot different than insulting a chief executive. Judges pride themselves on having a judicial temperament where they don’t let their emotions decide how they rule. DeSantis and company work differently. From the WaPo: [Advisers say the Trump campaign sees a benefit in him testing boundaries by publicly attacking judges and prosecutors — either he gets away with it, or he gets to play the victim for being censored by the courts.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/21/trump-rhetoric-indictments-threats/) Telling his supporters not to vote for the GOP nominee has no comparable upside for Trump. Even without pardon-dangling, Trump will want the GOP candidate to win. If Trump is sentenced to confinement, even an anti-pardon GOP POTUS will have multiple ways to put their finger on the scales of justice, including shortening the sentence and allowing elite level health care in the almost inevitable event that Trump claims illness. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/192 "2023-09-12T21:03:02Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Telling his supporters not to vote for the GOP nominee has no comparable upside for Trump. And yet, he refused to pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee this year and ended up getting himself exiled from the nationally-televised GOP primary debates, and instead had an interview with Tucker posted on Twitter or wherever. Yes, I do think Trump is that petty. He has been in the past and will be in the future. It’s not wishful thinking, it’s paying attention. Remember how he pounded hard in 2020 about how the elections were no longer legitimate and people shouldn’t vote? And then the GOP lost two seats in Georgia in very close Senate races during the runoffs. > **['A Hostage Situation Every Day': Strategists Blame Trump For Georgia Senate...](https://www.npr.org/2021/01/29/961837774/a-hostage-situation-every-day-strategists-blame-trump-for-georgia-senate-losses)** > > Sources close to the campaigns say people in and around the White House put near-constant pressure on Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler to shape their runoff campaigns around Trump's demands. **This is what he does.** He doesn’t think of “upside”, he acts out of spite, not strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/193 "2023-09-12T21:41:32Z")
Agreed. If you think he won’t be spiteful if the GOP maneuvers to nominate someone else, then you haven’t been paying attention to the last 7 or 8 years. His body runs on spite as much as oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/194 "2023-09-12T22:09:01Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > And yet, he refused to pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee this year and ended up getting himself exiled from the nationally-televised GOP primary debates, and instead had an interview with Tucker posted on Twitter or wherever. The debate refusal move was normie. When a politician is as far ahead in the primary polls as Trump is, making an excuse, however implausible, to avoid debating, is common. See: [When Candidates Ghost Debates](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/21/us/politics/gop-debate-history.html) As for refusal to pledge to support their party’s eventual nominee, before knowing who it might be, they all should refuse. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/195 "2023-09-12T22:18:49Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > The debate refusal move was normie. When a politician is as far ahead in the primary polls as Trump is, making an excuse, however implausible, to avoid debating, is common. It was a bad move. > **[Why Trump might regret passing on the first debate](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/19/2024-debates-matter-00111948)** > > In recent nominating contests, the nationally televised shoutfests have prompted significant shifts in polling afterward. And you cited an article talking about nominees who chose not to debate their opponents in a race. Not politicians trying to get a nomination in a primary. I don’t think it’s “normie” at all. But I think I made my point very strongly. History supports me. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/196 "2023-09-12T22:21:01Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Remember how he pounded hard in 2020 about how the elections were no longer legitimate and people shouldn’t vote? And then the GOP lost two seats in Georgia in very close Senate races during the runoffs. Democratic control of the Senate doesn’t hurt Trump personally. Democratic control of the White House while DJT was incarcerated would. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/197 "2023-09-12T22:27:37Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Democratic control of the Senate doesn’t hurt Trump personally. Not as much now, though as long as the Republican Party is the Party of Trump, any control they have is helpful to him. But when he was sabotaging the Senate, he was still under the impression that he could be in the White House. You really think that he wouldn’t want control of the Senate while starting his second term in office? 😆 The fact is, he doesn’t think like that. He lashes out at people all the time impulsively when it isn’t to his benefit. He might get himself tossed in jail any day now because he can’t stop attacking people he doesn’t like. You’re not paying attention. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Democratic control of the White House while DJT was incarcerated would. A Democratic POTUS doesn’t even have the power to deny him a second pillow if he’s in a Georgia prison. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/198 "2023-09-12T22:36:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > And you cited an article talking about nominees who chose not to debate their opponents in a race. Not politicians trying to get a nomination in a primary. Good point. See: [No incumbent president has participated in a primary debate since Ford](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/incumbent-president-participated-primary-debate-ford-democrats/story?id=99773858) From a GOP POV, Trump is as close as one can be to being an incumbent. Why risk shaking up the nomination race? Isn’t that Biden’s logic: [Poll: Eight in 10 Democratic primary voters want Joe Biden to debate](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/06/11/will-biden-debate-kennedy-williamson-2024/70309166007/) In my view, eight in ten Democratic primary votes are mistaken. Sitting on a big lead is rational behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/199 "2023-09-12T22:55:47Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > From a GOP POV, Trump is as close as one can be to being an incumbent. Why risk shaking up the nomination race? Isn’t that Biden’s logic: There’s a big difference between being the actual incumbent, and already having the nomination, and being a frontrunner in a primary where you have a big lead, at least for now. Getting back to the actual subject of this thread, there is a strong reason why he shouldn’t take that nomination for granted (the fallout from his insurrection/election fraud plot). The same argument for why he should be disqualified to hold office is a large reason why he’s facing criminal charges, and why he should be taking the nomination seriously. Vivek Ramaswamy is suddenly a name you hear all the time now because of that debate, but nobody is talking about Trump’s chat with Tucker. Here’s an article: > **[Pence-Haley-Ramaswamy fight intensifies race for second place, leaving Trump...](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pence-haley-ramaswamy-fight-intensifies-race-place-leaving/story?id=103011634)** > > The intensifying fight among Mike Pence, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy underscores the prevailing theme of the Republican primary: Everyone's running for second place. So let’s say Trump is incarcerated, and that he falls behind. Maybe it’s a combination of people not wanting to vote for a convict, and his inability to campaign from prison, and the rise of one of the people vying to take his place. Trump would still wield some power, though. From that article above: > The mushrooming brawl, sparked at the August Republican debate, laid bare Donald Trump’s dominance in the primary and other candidates’ aversion to drawing his ire or that of his diehard supporters, even though they’re all going to have to leapfrog the former president if they hope to snag the GOP nomination. Trump still has the MAGA crowd, and in the case where someone gets the Republican nomination ahead of Trump, who do you think needs whom more? Trump, who could rip apart a nominee (even if it’s through an intermediary, as he often did when he was banned from multiple media platforms) or the GOP candidate who _might_ win and _might_ pardon Trump for federal charges? (Even though they can’t pardon him for any state charges he faces in Georgia and New York currently.) I can guarantee you who has the ego to **think** they are the one with the power in that situation… ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/200 "2023-09-12T23:31:03Z")
[GOP lawyer with ties to three Trump rivals enters 14th Amendment fray](https://electionlawblog.org/?p=138682) > [@](#): > > The lawyer’s involvement reflects the latest escalation in an emerging legal fight over a once-obscure provision of the Constitution. The tussle has produced surprising alliances, and analysts say it will probably end with a ruling on Trump’s eligibility from the Supreme Court. From later in the above quoted WaPo article: > [@](#): > > Two attempted challenges, in Florida, have already been thrown out on the grounds that the groups of voters bringing the cases lacked standing. A case in Colorado, filed last week by a group of voters and the D.C.-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, may fare better on that principle given a state law that allows any voter to challenge a candidate’s eligibility. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412/201 "2023-09-13T00:24:45Z")
Oh wow, now **that** is juicy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/various-states-including-colorado-determine-trump-is-disqualified-from-holding-office/988412.md?page=11)