US polls 2024: 14th Amendment could bar Donald Trump from presidential ballot

Republican candidate Donald Trump might have emerged on the uno spot of several opinion polls, however, accusations against him of illegally trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia, might just be the reason he will be severed even before he could stand at the White House Podium and chant ‘Make America Great Again’. 

On Sunday Virginia's Democratic senator Tim Kaine on the show “ABC This Week,” said “there’s a powerful argument to be made” for barring Donald Trump from the presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment’s ban on insurrectionists holding public office.

He although followed his statement with a grim reply “My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts,” and contended that instead of Donald Trump, Democrats should concentrate on winning the 2024 US Presidential Elections. 

According to a CNN report, Legal experts have pointed to the 14th Amendment as a potential long-shot avenue to keep Trump from becoming president.

What is the 14th Amendment of US constitution?

The 14th amendment of the US constitution includes a post-Civil War “disqualification clause” that bars anyone from holding public office if they “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.” The Constitution does not, however, spell out how to enforce this ban and it has only been applied twice since the late 1800s, when it was used extensively against former Confederates.

Will 14th Amendment be implemented on Trump?

US Media reports states that election officials in battleground states, including attorneys general in Michigan and New Hampshire, have said they’re anticipating outside groups to file lawsuits on the matter, and are studying the legality of the provision and how it may disqualify Trump from appearing on ballots in their states.

Liberal activists have championed the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause and have already vowed to file suits to disqualify the former president, a tactic they have used against other elected officials to little success – though some prominent conservative legal scholars have recently endorsed the idea.

Trump won't be Republican nominee: Nikki Haley

Meanwhile, with her campaign gaining momentum after last month's Republican primary debate, Indian American presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said former US president Donald Trump would not be the party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential elections.

The latest opinion poll released by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Haley, 51, was in the third spot in terms of popularity rating after Trump and Ron DeSantis. Her fellow Indian American candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was in the fourth spot.

“I don't think President Trump's going to be the nominee. I think it's going to be me. But I will tell you that any Republican is better than what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing,” Haley told CBS News in an interview on Sunday.

According to RealClearPolitics which monitors all the major national polls, Trump tops the list of average of all such polls with 53.6 per cent followed by DeSantis (13 per cent), Ramaswamy (7.1 per cent) and Haley (6 per cent).

(With agency inputs)