‘Insurrection’ should bar Donald Trump from US presidency, lawyers argue

Advocacy groups hope a test case based on a Civil War-era provision could block the former president from 2024 election.

Lawyers are saying that Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, should not be allowed to run for president again. They argue this because of his involvement in the attack on the US Capitol in 2021. They are using a part of the US Constitution called the "insurrection clause" to make their case.

This clause from the Civil War era says that anyone who has taken part in an "insurrection or rebellion" cannot hold a federal office. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a lawsuit in Colorado to stop Trump from running for president in that state. They hope that if they win in Colorado, it could set a precedent and prevent Trump from running in other states as well.

The lawyers claim that Trump encouraged a violent mob to attack the Capitol and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Before the attack, Trump had been spreading false claims that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden. He called on his supporters to gather in Washington, D.C., and directed them to the Capitol while Congress was certifying Biden's victory. It was only after several hours of violence that he asked the rioters to go home.

A lawyer representing Trump argues that the former president did not incite violence and that disqualifying him based on these legal theories would set a dangerous precedent. Trump is facing similar lawsuits in Michigan and Minnesota, but the Colorado case is the first to go to trial.

However, legal experts think that this strategy is unlikely to succeed, especially since the Supreme Court, where the final decision would be made, has a conservative majority with three justices appointed by Trump. Despite the legal challenges and multiple criminal indictments against him, Trump is still leading in the polls to become the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.