BY COLTON SCOTT
English 9/Mr. Davis
Los Alamos High School
Editor’s note: Greyson Robinson has written an op ed in opposition this one.
When Donald Trump was sworn into office, he took an oath, an oath he would not keep. He swore he would defend the U.S. Constitution to the best of his ability. Donald Trump attempted to overthrow the U.S. government and establish himself as the president of the U.S. despite the actual results of the election (January 6 United States Capitol Attack). This utter disregard for democracy and the U.S. Constitution is why I believe Donald Trump should be disqualified from the 2024 presidential election.
First, it is important to understand what claims are levied against Donald Trump and the evidence against him. The main cases that could disqualify him from running again in 2024 are first, that he staged an insurrection against the United States Government on January 6, 2021. If he is found guilty of this, he will be disqualified by Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. Which says that anyone who has staged an insurrection against the U.S Government shall not be allowed to run again. The other case claims that Trump kept classified documents at his Mar-a-lago estate in Florida.
Now that we know the claims at hand we can discuss their validity. The amount of evidence against Donald Trump and the events of January 6th 2021 is staggering. During Trump’s speech on January 6th he stated, “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” (Naylor, Quoting Donald Trump). This statement has a clear violent undertone. This is made worse by the fact that Trump had just given an hour long speech filled with lies and misinformation. Before his speech, Trump tweeted that it was impossible for him to lose the 2020 election and that there will be a big protest in D.C. on the 6th saying it will be wild. After about two weeks of riling up and inciting his followers to go to the U.S. Capitol and halt the finalization of the 2020 election by Congress.
Although Trump has not been disqualified as of yet, there is still legal precedent that he should be disqualified. Earlier this year, the Colorado Supreme Court disqualified him from the 2024 presidential ballot. A similar argument and result was also seen in Maine and Illinois Courts. Although this was shot down in the Supreme Court, it still shows that there is legal precedent of Trump’s guilt. The leader of the Proud Boys, a racist group present during the January 6th Riots, was recently sentenced to twenty-two years in prison for his role in the violent protest at the Capitol building. These cases show that there IS legal precedent for Trump being disqualified and that the January 6th riots did become violent.
Next let’s look at whether or not Trump had classified documents in Mar-a-lago. Special Court Case prosecutors claimed that multiple Mar-a-lago employees helped to hide classified U.S. Government documents. They were kept in boxes scattered around Trump’s estate and were in a bathroom and ballroom. A former employee at Mar-a-Lago told Spectral News ny1 that, “Anybody could have accessed the rooms where Trump kept his classified documents,” (Konig, Quoting past employees of former president Donald Trump). They also told stories of loading boxes of classified military documents onto a plane going to Australia.
To wrap everything up, I have shown evidence of Donald Trump’s crimes. The amount of crimes this man has committed and or seemed to is staggering. Donald Trump must be disqualified from the 2024 election to uphold the United States democracy and electoral integrity.
Orden, Erica “Colorado court says Trump is ineligible to run again.”
I used a quote and for evidence
I used this for a quote and to get an idea of what crimes Trump was accused of.
9/3/23
Naylor, Brian “Read Trump’s Jan. 6 Speech, A Key Part Of Impeachment Trial”
2/10/21
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial
I Quoted Trump and got a better idea of what Trump said on January 6th to better inform my article.
US Office of Public Affairs “Proud Boys Leader Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Seditious Conspiracy and Other Charges Related to U.S. Capitol Breach”
I used this to show a precedent in the court of law to show Trump’s guilt.