Jan. 6 ‘disqualifies’ Trump from office, says GOP Governor Asa Hutchinson

Donald Trump’s role in the 2021 insurgency “disqualifies” him from running for president, Republican Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on Sunday.

“I don’t believe Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States. I think he had his chance there. I think January 6 really disqualifies him for the future. And so, we’re going beyond that,” Hutchinson said on ABC’s “This Week.” The governor is “seriously considering” launching his own presidential bid.

Still, pressed by host Jonathan Karl, Hutchinson wouldn’t say he would oppose Trump if he turns out to be the Republican candidate for president.

“I want to see what the alternatives are. It’s premature, Jonathan, to get into what might happen in 2024,” Hutchinson replied. “But I want to see everything I can do to make sure there is an alternative, and that Donald Trump is not the party’s candidate.”

Hutchinson, who plans to head to the first primary state of Iowa soon, admitted that Trump likely remains the current “favorite” among the likely candidates, given his continued popularity among many Republicans.

The House Jan. 6 committee voted unanimously last month to return four criminal charges against Trump related to the attempted Justice Department coup: obstruction of official process, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make false statements and incitement to insurrection against the United States.

Several critics and experts believe that Trump cannot legally campaign because of provisions in the Constitution barring any incumbent from running again if the candidate participated in an insurrection or supported those who did.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, enacted after the Civil War, prohibits any public official who has been sworn to defend the government from subsequently running for re-election if he had “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the government. government – ​​or had “provided aid or comfort to his enemies.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) survived a 14th Amendment re-election challenge in court last year. But a challenge was successful in September against a New Mexico official who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A state judge has ruled, in response to a lawsuit filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and others, that Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin should be removed from office. , noting that the attack on the U.S. Capitol was an “insurrection” and that Griffin’s participation disqualified him from holding public office again under the 14th Amendment.

Griffin, founder of the group Cowboys for Trump, later lost an appeal.

Rep. David Cicilline (DR.I.) and 40 other House Democrats last month introduced a bill barring Trump from becoming president again because he “has engaged in insurrection.” The bill cites the 14th Amendment.

Check out Hutchinson’s full interview here: