CNN is having a rough day after the U.S. Supreme Court rule former President Donald Trump cannot be kicked off the ballot.
On Monday, CNN’s Dana Bash was forced to admit that the nation’s highest court got the decision on whether Trump can be kicked off the ballot right.
“Um, you know, look, unfortunately for America, the court isn’t necessarily wrong that this is the way the framers wanted it to be. They wanted Congress — the people who are closest to their constituents to be able to make the rules and the laws,” Bash said.
She added, “That doesn’t change the fact that because of gerrymandering in the House and all kinds of other issues, they’re not doing their job on a lot of these big issues.”
Watch the video below:
CNN on Supreme Court ruling to keep Trump on Colorado ballot: “Unfortunately for America, the court isn’t necessarily wrong.”
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 4, 2024
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On Monday morning, the Supreme Court handed down a massive 9-0 decision overturning Colorado’s Supreme Court’s ruling that kicked Trump off the ballot.
In December, Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled Trump is ineligible to hold office again, citing the clause of the 14th Amendment that prohibits individuals who engaged in an insurrection after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution from holding office again.
But in an unsigned ruling, the nation’s highest court said it is up to Congress to enforce that clause, writing, “Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.”
It is understandable that those in the media would want to hold a day of mourning after their “strange new trick” to finally rid the country of Trump once and for all without doing any dirty work went up in flames.
They thought they found a perfect way to eliminate Trump without having to rely on a jury or members of Congress casting politically difficult votes to enforce the 14th Amendment. However, you know they would be cheering this as a a resounding win for American if the news was that the Supreme Court overturned a decision by Texas’ secretary of state kicking President Joe Biden off the ballot.
The Founders did not envision a country and a society where a candidate for president who is disliked by a vocal group can be disqualified simply because of an allegation, without even being criminally charged with a crime much less convicted of it.
If Colorado and other states were allowed to throw people off the ballot for crimes they were not convicted of — or even charged within — it would mean there is no standard that has to be met, except for what officials in states decide is an insurrection. And that would dangerously throw open wide the door for ambitious politicians to use the 14th Amendment to throw candidates off the ballot for any offense they deemed to be an insurrection. Perhaps the way a candidate eats a corn dog at the Iowa state fair could be an insurrection to some designing secretary of state or court.
Now, yes, you could say, the U.S. is technically not a democracy and therefore there is room for officials to make decisions about whether a candidate is qualified to be on the ballot, and some decisions should not be left up to the voters because history has shown what a majority wants is not always what’s really wise or best.
But, what was happening with the 14th Amendment and Trump is not what the Founder’s had in mind. Our system was not designed so that officials could utilize the law against their opponents without any kind of due process or accountability. They did not envision a system where unelected officials could do a party’s dirty work and kick a candidate off the ballot because they don’t like him, leaving voters with no method to hold them accountable.
So, it is not unfortunate for America. It is a good day for the country.
