A co-host of ABC’s “The View” is calling for a Constitutional amendment that could impact former President Donald Trump’s campaign.
On Thursday, co-host Whoopi Goldberg said she is “freaked out” by the lack of a discussion about changing the Constitution.
“We’re not even discussing changing the Constitution to make it say you cannot be in jail and be the president,” she said.
Sunny Hostin chimed in, “An amendment would be nice.”
Goldberg continued, “I’m a big fan of amendments. Because I feel like, unless we start to plug these holes, this is gonna bite us in the behind.”
“If I can’t vote when I come out of jail, why can you be president?”
Hostin added, “Amendments are very American.”
Watch the video below:
Whoopi calls for a constitutional amendment that would bar Trump from being able to be president from prison: "We're not even discussing changing the Constitution to make it say you cannot be in jail and be the president."
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) June 15, 2023
"Amendments are very American." – Sunny Hostin pic.twitter.com/1ATE17D4zF
The exchange comes as Trump faces federal charges for his handling of classified documents.
However, if a trial were to be conducted before the 2024 general election and he was convicted, he would not be legally prohibited from running for office. But if an amendment like Goldberg suggested were to be ratified, it would be a different story.
And on its face, it seems to make sense. If Americans lose some of their privileges after jail time, why should someone be able to run for the highest office in the land from jail?
Yet, it risks giving way to partisan prosecutors weaponizing the justice system to legally bar candidates they dislike from seeking office by moving forward with frivolous prosecutions.
Even if there were no such cases of corrupt prosecutions, it would raise questions about the impartiality of the justice system if candidates were successfully prosecuted and taken out of the competition.
And at this point, with the country’s institution under fire, the last thing it needs is an amendment that would further undermine Americans’ belief the justice system is impartial.